BRM CityCell Marketing Promoton

LONDON SCHOOL OF COMMERCE,
DHAKA
Business
Research
Methodologies
CityCell- Promotion of the
4p’s of Marketing Mix
Samiul islam Rikth

0058OTOT1008
Lecturer: Dr.Anisur Rahman
Semester 4
Business Research Methodologies Marketing- Promotion of Marketing Mix- CityCell
Table of Contents
Pages
Content’s Page 2
Executive Summary 3
1 Introduction 4
1.1 Background of Study 4
1.1.1 Introduction to Organisation 4
1.1.2 Products/Services of Organisation 4
1.2 Specific Focus Area 5
1.3 Aims and Objectives 6
2 Academic Literature 6
2.1 Marketing 6
2.2 Marketing Process 6
2.3 Marketing Strategy 7
2.4 Marketing Mix 8
2.4.1 Product 9
2.4.2 Price 9
2.4.3 Place 9
2.4.4 Promotion 9
2.5 Promotion- Details 10
2.5.1 Integrated Marketing Communication 10
2.5.2 Communication Process 10
2.5.3 Effective Communication Process 11
2.6 Importance of Promotion Mix 14
2.7 Promotion Techniques- Push/Pull 14
2.8 Promotional Tool/Communication Mix 14
2.8.1 Advertising 16
2.8.2 Personal Selling 17
2.8.3 Sales Promotion 19
2.8.4 Public Relations (PR) 20
2.8.5 Direct Marketing 21
2.8.6 Events 22
3 Methodology 23
3.1 Research Objective/Approach 23
3.2 Research Methods/Designs 23
3.3 Limitations 23
4 Results 24
4.1 Advertising 24
4.2 Sales Promotion 25
4.3 Personal Selling, Public Relations and Event 25
4.4 Direct Marketing 27
4.5 Budget for Promotion 27
5 Conclusion/Recommendations 28
List of References 30
Questionnaire 31
2
Executive Summary
This Business Research Methodologies assignment is more of a mini-dissertation done on
Marketing.
This report has been focused on Promotion of the 4Ps of Marketing of the first mobile phone
service provider of Bangladesh CityCell.
CityCell’s promotional activities are the major reasons for the success till date, however recently,
their success has been hindered since most of their competitors are adopting stronger
promotional strategies compared to CityCell.
The major purpose of this report is to analyse and evaluate the importance and effectiveness of
Promotion for any organisations in general, which is later compared with CityCell’s current
promotional activities to find out the loopholes in CityCell’s current strategy.
In this report, an overview of CityCell has been given, followed by a detailed literature review on
marketing and promotion. The methodology of carrying out the research has also been provided.
Finally the results obtained from the evaluation, followed by the conclusion and recommendation
has been given.
I would like to thank Mr. Anand Rajasingham, Head of Marketing of CityCell, because he has
provided us with all the necessary and relevant information regarding CityCell’s promotional
activities.
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1. Introduction
1.1 Background of Study
1.1.1 Introduction of Organisation
CityCell was first introduced in 1994 as a brand name under Pacific Bangladesh Telecom
Limited (PBTL) in 1994. CityCell provides wireless telecom or mobile phone products/services
to public and corporations and is the only Code Division Multiple Access operator in
Bangladesh.
CityCell’s aim is to satisfy customers by providing their needs developing innovative and
creative ideas for communicating. They are a customer-driven organisation who wants to build
and maintain a strong customer relationship with customers and ensure brand loyalty to survive
in the competitive telecommunication market.
The key objectives include increasing market share, improving customer service, and using high
standards of technology to offer services, packages and deals at affordable rates.
Currently, CityCell has the least subscribers of 1.67 million with a market share of 4%
approximately.
1.1.2 Product/Service of Organisation
CityCell is the first mobile operator service in Bangladesh. They provide both post-paid
(monthly rental) and pre-paid (pay-as-you-go) mobile connections. However, to attract more
customers they offer a wide range of devices and services listed in the table below.
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Devices Services
Voice Services
Handsets • CityCell One
• Fixed Phone
Data
Modems • Zoom
• Zoom Ultra
Value Added Services
• Hello Tunes
• Gift Shop
• Dost
Fixed Wireless Terminals
• Music Box
• Voice Based Info
• Email@Mobile
• Mobile Banking
International Services
• International Calling
• International Roaming
Infrastructure Services
• Backbone Lease
Loyalty and Retention
• Ace
Table 1. Products and Services
(PBTL,2009)
1.2 Specific Focus Area
This study on CityCell is being carried out on the Marketing Department with the 4Ps of
Marketing, the most important concepts in the today’s modern marketing, as the major focus
All the P’s- Price, Product, Place and Promotion are highlighted, however the key emphasis will
be placed upon the fourth P of the marketing mix, PROMOTION.
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1.3 Aims and Objective
The major objective of this report is to understand the effectiveness of a sound promotion for any
organisation. In this report, the various promotional tools of CityCell- advertising, sales
promotion, personal selling, events, direct marketing and public relations are analysed.
From this report, it can be evaluated that advertising and sales promotion are the most efficient
for of promotion for CityCell. However, they are under utilising direct marketing, which if
utilised properly, can turn out to be one of the major promotional tool leading to CityCell’s much
needed success.
1. Academic Literature
1.1 Marketing
Marketing is all around you. Wherever you go marketing will follow either in the form of
billboards and posters or advertisements on televisions, newspapers and magazines. Marketing is
that aspect of a business that identifies the needs of customers to derive benefits (profits) from
them. It is the two-fold process through which companies create value for customers and build a
strong relationship to capture value from them in return (Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.24-25).
The major objective is to attract and retain customers by providing them with a high value, good
quality and high satisfaction levels (Kotler and Keller,2005,p.5)
1.2 Marketing Process
The marketing process is a five-step model that companies follow in order to develop an
effective and sound marketing procedure for organisational success.
The first step involves identifying the needs and wants of customers and recognising the market
of operations. Followed by the design of a customer-driven marketing strategy focusing on the
target audience and market and what they will offer. This is based on the five major concepts-
production, product, selling, marketing and societal concept. The third stage, an outline for the
marketing plan and programs are prepared with the help of the marketing mix tools. It is during
this stage when the relationship between customers and companies is initiated. In the fourth
stage, this relationship is made stronger to increase brand loyalty and earn profits. The last stage
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is where benefits and value from customers are derived in the form of current and future sales,
market share and profits as well as long-run returns (Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.24-39)
The model below illustrates the marketing process.
Understand Design a Construct a Build Capture value

the customer- marketing profitable from
marketplace driven program that relationships customers to
and marketing delivers and create create profits
customer strategy. superior customer and customer
needs and value. delight. quality
Fig. 1 Marketing Process(Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.25)
1.3 Marketing Strategy
The marketing strategy is the plan and process through which companies hope to achieve their
marketing goals and objectives. The marketing planning process consists of evaluating the
marketing opportunities, selecting target markets, developing marketing plans and programs and
managing the marketing effort (Kotler and Keller,2005,p.27). The figure below illustrates the
marketing processes and the various factors that build up the marketing strategy.
Fig. 2 Marketing Strategy and Marketing Mix(Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.67)
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It can be seen that the customer is placed in the middle. This indicates that customers are the
centre for any organisation. This is followed by developing the major elements of effective
marketing strategy- segmentation, targeting and positioning.
Then organisation needs to identify the growing demands of customers and fulfill them better
than their competitors to increase satisfaction levels (Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.66-67). Then
the marketing mix tools which can be defined as a set price, product, place and promotion used
by companies to persue its marketing objective (Kotler and Keller,2005,p.19). Finally, after the
market plans and program are planned out, companies should involve in market analysis,
planning, implementation and control illustrated through diagram below.
Analysis
Planning Implementatio Control

Develop n
Measure Results
Strategic Plans
Evaluate Results
Carry out the
Develop plans
Marketing Plans Take corrective
action
Fig.3 Marketing Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control(Kotler and

Keller,2005,p.71-74).
1.4 Marketing Mix
Marketing mix refers to the things organisations do to influence the demand for
products/services. It is a set of controllable, tactical marketing tools that companies employ to
achieve their marketing objectives and aims. There are four major tools, better known as the 4Ps
of marketing.
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1.4.1 Product
From the name of this P it is quite understandable it refers to good/service being offered to the
customers.
1.4.2 Price
This refers to the amount of money customers must pay to purchase the product to fulfill their
needs and wants.
1.4.3 Place
Place refers to the various mediums which companies use to distribute their products/services to
their customers.
1.4.4 Promotion
This refers to the activities that communicate the benefits and merits of the product/service to the
customers.
(Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.70-71)
The 4Ps has several elements (shown below) which are used by companies to design a strong and
effective marketing mix strategy.
Product Price Place Promotion

Product Variety List Price Channels Advertising
Quality Discounts Coverage Personal Selling
Design and Features Allowances Assortments Sales Promotion
Brand Name Payment Period Locations Public Relations
Packaging Credit Terms Inventory Direct Marketing
Sizes Transport Events/Experiences
Services
Returns and Warranties
Table.2 Elements of the 4Ps(Kotler and Keller,2005,p.19)
1.5 Promotion
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This report highlights the effectiveness of Promotion.
Promotion is all about communication. It deals with informing, persuading and reminding
customers about their products/service/brand. It builds a relationship with customers by the
interaction between the two parties (Kotler and Keller,2005,p.536).
1.5.1 Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)
In the 21st century, developing a product of high quality and attracting the right customers is not
enough. A clear, consistent and compelling message regarding the organisation, its products and
brand name must be delivered to the customers by integrating and coordinating various
communication channels (Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.450). This is known as Integrated
Marketing Communication.
1.5.2 Communication Process
The communication process explains to us how the promotional messages can be transmitted
effectively. There are nine elements involved- sender and receiver (parties), message and media
(communication tools), encoding, decoding, response and feedback (communication functions)
and finally noise (interference) (Kotler and Keller,2005,p.538).
The sender sends a message which is first put into form (encoding) and then via any forms of
media is delivered to the receiver. The receiver then understands the message (decoding) and
reacts to it (response). Following which the receiver sends back a feedback to the sender. While
all this is going on, various barriers affectthe authenticity of the message known as noise (Kotler
and Armstrong,2006,pg.451).
1.5.3 Steps in Developing Effective Communication
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Once organisations have understood the communication process, they need to design a proper
and efficient communication strategy.
Identify target audience, establish marketing

strategies and mix elements
Establish behivoural influences
Determine information needs of target audience
Determine objectives and task for promotion
Determine overall budget on promotion
Determine the promotion mix allocation of tools
Implementation
Measurement, Control and Feedback
Fig. 4 Eight Steps in Planning Communication strategies(Lancanster and

Massingham,1993,p.179)
1.5.3.1 Identifying the Target Audience
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The first step in is to recognise the target audience (potential buyers/current users) and develop
strategies and promotional elements to achieve goals/objectives. (Kotler and
Armstrong,2006.p.452).
1.5.3.2 Behavioural Characteristics of Target Audience
This refers to the characteristics of the target audience that is understand the attributes of
customers to determine they way to sell and market product/services (Lancaster and
Massingham,1993,p.178-181)
1.5.3.3 Establishment of Information Needs
This focuses on recognising needs of the customers through extensive analysis and research
programs. It also highlights areas from where customers can gain information regarding products
(Lancaster and Massingham,1993,p.180).
1.5.3.4 Determine Objectives and Tasks
In this step, organisations need to understand at which stage of the Lavidge and Steiners
“Hierarchy of Effects” model the target audiences stand and where they should be taken to
establish specific and quantified objectives. The six stages are- awareness, knowledge, liking,
preference, conviction and purchase (Lancaster and Massingham,1993,p.180).
1.5.3.5 Determine Communication Budget
Once organisations are aware of their objectives and tasks they need to evaluate the budget
required to achieve the objectives. There are four methods to prepare the budgets (Lancaster and
Massingham,1993,p.181).
1.5.3.5.1 Affordable Method
The promotion budget is set according to the affordability level of organisations. The amount is
determined by deducting the operating expenses and capital outlays from the total revenue.
1.5.3.5.2 Percentage of Sales Method
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The promotion budget is determined as a percentage of forecasted sales or as a percentage of the

unit sales price.
1.5.3.5.3 Competitive-Parity Method
The promotion budget is set based by matching the outlays of competitors.
1.5.3.5.4 Objective-and Task Method
This promotion budget is determined on what organisations wants to achieve with their
promotion. This is the sum of three major elements- specifying promotion objective, identifying
the activities to achieve and estimating the costs of performing these objectives.
1.5.3.6 Determine the Promotional Mix
This is the most important step of developing an effective communication strategy. According to
IMC, organisations need to develop a strong promotional mix which a mixture of various
promotional tools- advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, direct
marketing and events/experiences.
1.5.3.7 Implementation
At this step, the selected promotional tools are implemented to see the effect on the market. This
is yet another important step since it determines whether the developed strategies work in favour
of the organistion (Lancaster and Massingham,1993,p.184).
1.5.3.8 Measurement, Control and Feedback
At this stage, the effectiveness of the communication is evaluated against the standards that have
been set. If there are some discrepancies organisations should control it and take necessary steps
for amendments. Feedback after implementation should also be considered (Lancaster and
Massinghamd,1993,p.184)
1.6 Importance of Promotion
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Promotion is an essential component to determine organisational success. It helps companies

make people aware of their product and provides the necessary information to customers to
purchase. Promotion allows companies to retain and attract customers. It builds customer loyalty
by giving companies opportunities to build strong customer-relationships. It helps earn more
profits through increase sales and provides improved customer service.
1.7 Promotional Techniques- Push/Pull
Push/Pull strategies are marketing techniques which can be used by companies to reach to their
target market.
In a push strategy, companies try to inform and attract customers towards their product/services
via aggressive advertising, e-mails and other techniques. The features and benefits of the
products are highlighted and consumers are pushed to make a decision on purchasing. It involves
short-term strategies and campaigns during a particular period of time. This is appropriate to use
when there is low brand loyalty, brand choice is made within stores, impulse buying and product
benefits are well understood (Kotler and Keller,2005,p.468).
On the other hand, pull strategy is where customers are keen to know the product/service to
make a purchase. This is because customers believe that the company can fulfill their needs and
demands. This is achieved through interviews, word-of-mouth and many more. This helps
develop a good brand and grow your business. It focuses on development of trust and perceived
value (DoshDosh,2010). This is appropriate when there is high brand loyalty and high
involvement, when people perceive differences in brands and select brands before going to the
store (Kotler and Keller,2005,p.468).
1.8 Promotional Tools/Communication Mix
This include advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing and
events/experiences. The table below identifies various components of the promotional tools.
Advertising Personal Sales Public Direct Events /
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Selling Promotion Relations Marketing Experiences

Print/ Sales Contests, games, Press Kits Catalogues Sports
Broadcasting ads Presentation sweepstakes and
lotteries
Packaging Sales Premium and Speeches Mailings Entertainment
Meetings gifts
Motion Pictures Incentive Sampling Seminars Telemarketing Festivals
Programs
Brochures/ Samples Fair and Trade Annual Electronic Art
Booklets shows Reports Shopping
Posters/Leaflets Fair and Exhibits Charitable TV Shopping Causes
Trade shows Donations
Directories Demonstrations Publications Fax Mail Factory Tours
Reprints of ads Coupons Community E-mail Company
Relations Museums
Display signs Rebates Lobbying Voice Mail Street activities
Point-of- Low-interest Identity Kiosk
purchase financing Media Marketing
displays
Audiovisual Entertainment Company
material Magazine
Symbols/Logos Trane-in
allowances
Videotapes Continuity
Programs
Tie-ins
Table 3. Components of Promotional Tools(Kotler and Keller,2005,p.537)
1.8.1 Advertising
Advertising refers to the promotion of ideas, goods and service indirectly and with no personal
contact with customers providing reasons to purchase goods/services sponsored and paid by the
advertiser (Lancaster and Massingham,1993,p.185).
1.8.1.1 Decisions
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The four major advertising decisions as illustrated in the diagram below. In the beginning the
advertising objective should develop a specific communication task to be achieved with a
specific target audience during a specific period of time based on past decisions about target
market, positioning and marketing mix. The three possible types of advertising objectives are
informative, persuasive and reminder advertising. Followed by determining the budget decision
based on the four methods discussed earlier. The third decision is developing the strategy which
involves creating the message and how it should be conveyed to customers using the various
advertising mediums (Table 3). Finally, the effectiveness of the advertisement should be
analysed in terms of communication and sales.
Developing
Advertising
Message Decisions
Budget Decisions • Message

Strategy Campaign
Objective Setting • Affordable
Approach • Message Evaluation
• Communicati Execution
on Objective • Percent of • Communicati
Sales on Impact
• Sales Media Decisions
Objective • Competitive • Sales Impact
• Reach,
Parity
frequency,
• Objective impact
• Major media
types
• Specific media
vehicles
Fig. 5 Decisions in Advertising(Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p475)
1.8.1.2
Advantages Disadvantages
Excellent Coverage High Costs (in some cases)
Extremely Flexible Various Legal Restraints
Highly Acceptable and builds Awareness Increase in Media Clutter
Low Cost (in some cases) Not Highly Persuasive
Complete Control High competitive since widely used
Helps build trust amongst customers and Provides very limited information and cannot
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reaches a wider audience satisfy all customer queries

Table 4. Advantages and Disadvantages of Adverting(Tutor2u,2009 and Kotler and
Keller,2005,p.575)
1.8.2 Personal Selling
Personal selling is the direct two-way communication between customer and salesperson
representing the company via face to face meeting, telephone or video or web-conferencing with
the intention to make a sale. The role of personal selling can vary from companies to companies
in respect of sales people. Some companies can have sales people while others might make their
sales online. Salespeople also tend to represent customers to the company by learning about their
needs and wants. The most important thing in personal selling is to build up a strong customer-
company relationship.
1.8.2.1 Decisions
The major decisions in personal selling can be illustrated through the diagram below.
Designin 2. Recruitin
g sales g and Training Compensat Supervisi Evaluati
force selecting salespeo ing ng ng
3. salespeopl
strategy salespeo ple salespeo salespeo
and ple
4.
structure
Fig.6 Decisions in Personal Selling(p.509)
The first major decision is to decide what structure of sales force the company should employ.
This is based on the type of operation and product line of the company. Companies can have a
territorial, product, customer or complex sales force or a combination of any. This is followed by
the effective process of recruiting and selecting the right salespeople to represent the company.
This is very important decision since these salespeople are communicating with the customers on
behalf of the company. Once the appropriate salespeople have been acquired they should be
given the proper training to carry out their duties and responsibilities. To attract competent
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salespersons organisations need to also decide on giving them the right wages, incentives and
rewards to retain them and also increase their efficiency and morale. Supervising the salespeople
is another important decision that needs to be made. This focuses not only training salespeople
but also motivating and increasing their performance. This decision revolves around various
variables of monitoring, motivation and performance. The final decision is of evaluating the
salespeople and providing feedback. The performance is evaluated through- sales report,
personal observation, customer surveys amongst others.
2.8.2.2 Steps
There are seven major steps in the selling process. The first step is prospecting where the
potential customers are identified and good customers are differentiated from the poor ones.
Followed by the step where the salesperson understands the company and the customer known as
the preapproach step. In the approach step, salesperson interacts with customers for the first time
followed by presentation and demonstration where the salesperson tells the customer about the
product and its benefits. In the next step, the salesperson tries to overcome all sort of doubt and
contradiction regarding the product. Once accomplished the salesperson and customer strike a
deal and finally checks on the customer to ensure their satisfaction level.
Presentatio
Prospectin Preapproac Approach n and
g and h demonstrati
qualifying on
Handling Closing Follow-up

Objections
Fig.7 Steps in Personal Selling(p.521)
2.8.2.3
High personal attention due to direct Highly costly due to employing several hidden
communication costs
Response is directly and prompt to customer Not suitable for a large customer base
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queries
Face-to-face interaction gives chance to Only concentrates on one customer at a time
demonstrate product
Helps build a long term relationship with
customer
Table 5. Advantages and Disadvantages of Personal Selling(Tutor2u,2009)
2.8.3 Sales Promotion
In today’s world sales promotion tools are widely used. It is the short-term provision of
incentives and rewards to customers to influence the purchase of goods/services. This technique
offers reasons to but instantly (Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.489). It can be offered to customers,
retailers and sales force. The various reasons for the popularity of sales promotion are-
• It increases sales of organisations.
• It helps compete by providing differentiated offers.
• Advertising has become less efficient due to rising costs media clutter and legal
restraints.
• Consumers are more offer and deal orientated.
(Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.490)
2.8.3.1 Decisions
For an efficient sales promotion strategy, organisations need to make important decisions. First
they need to identify the objectives of sales promotion. This mainly involves attracting and
retaining new and old customers as well as retailers. After the objectives have been specified, the
promotion tools for consumers, retailers and sales forces (Table 3) should be determined. Finally
they have to develop the program by integrating the campaign concept with the media. The final
decisions are the amendments made into the campaign that is determined from the pretesting of
the program followed by the implementation, control and evaluation (Kotler and
Keller,2005,p.587-591)
2.8.3.2
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Implement Price Discrimination strategy Can hamper the brand image
through discounts and coupons
Increase sales by targeting promotional Increased price sensitivity since customers
incentives might wait for offers to make purchase
Attract customers to try new products Devalue product in customer mind
Effective short-term promotional tool Customers might get used to it, if used for a
long-term period
Helps manufacturers adjust to short-term
variations in supply and demand
Table 6. Advantages and Disadvantages of Sales Promtion(Tutor2u,2009, Drypen.in,2009
and Kotler and Keller,2005,p.586)
2.8.4 Public Relations (PR)
Public Relations (PR) deals with the development of a good and strong relationship between the
company and the public via favourable publicity, reputated corporate image and proper dealings
of rumours and unfavourable events and stories (Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.495). It involves
the design of different programs to promote or protect the brand image or products. Due to the
growing importance of PR, organisations have a department dedicated to PR. This department is
in charge of press relations, product publicity, corporate communications, lobbying and
counseling. Through PR companies want to build a good relationship with all their stakeholders.
Organisations pay nothing to promote themselves through PR, instead if an interesting story,
event strikes the eyes of the media, the media voluntarily publishes it ((Kotler and
Armstrong,2005,p.593-596)
2.8.4.1 Decisions
The first decision in PR is establishing the objectives. The objectives include awareness,
credibility, boosting sales force and dealer enthusiasm and reducing promotion costs. Following
this, organisations need to select messages in forms of interesting stories regarding the product or
the organisation itself to publish to customers while selecting an appropriate component (Table
3) to deliver this message. After the plan for PR has been finalised, it should be executed and
evaluated to make necessary amendments (Kotler and Keller,2005,p.595-596)
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2.8.4.2
Highly credible since information is received Lack of control since publicity is being done by
from third party a third party
Cost effective promotional tool Depends highly on the judgment of third party
Target market is subject to large volume of Distortion of information since information is
valuable information published via a third party
Table 7. Advantages and Disadvantages of PR(Tutor2u,2009 and KnowThis LLC,2010)
2.8.5 Direct Marketing
Direct marketing is informing about product/services to customers through consumer-direct

channels (Table 3) without the use of middlemen. It is an efficient way of building a long-term
relationship with specific customers since it allows the preparation of a personalised message
(Kotler and Keller,2005,p.604). Companies get a direct response from customers. This provides
a new and complete model for doing business. An effective customer database is required for an
efficient direct marketing process (Kotler and Armstrong,2006, 525).
2.8.5.1
Convenient, easy to use and private Can increase costs during implementation,
distribution of promotional material and
making distribution material
Immediate and interactive Risk of fraud since customer data is with
company which can be lost anytime if not
secured properly
Builds strong customer relationships
Low cost and efficient
2
No intermediaries to take part of profits

Table 8. Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct Marketing(Tutor2u,2009 and Kotler and
Armstrong,2006,p.525)
2.8.6 Events/Experiences
By participating in various events that hold special value to customers, companies can build a
stronger bond with customers increasing brand loyalty. Organisations can sponsor events to
connect with their target customers, to increase the awareness level of company and product
name. They can participate to express commitment to the community or a social issue amongst
many other reasons. An event or experiences provides an opportunity to organisations to get
closer with all their major stakeholders (Kotler and Keller,2006,p.591-2)
2.8.6.1 Major Events/Experiences Decisions
The first and foremost decision for organisations is to select an appropriate event opportunity
that they are related to. This must be done with great care since a great deal of money is
involved. The target market and the purpose of the event should be aligned to ensure success. An
ideal event can also be an event which is unique in nature and happens once in a lifetime, or that
generates the maximum level of attention followed by a design of the sponsorship program or
banners or signs. These have to be innovative and highly creative. Finally, the return from the
events should be measured via supply-side method (media attention received by the brand) or
demand-side method (exposure from customers) (Kotler and Keller,2006,p.592-3).
3 Methodology
3.1 Research Objective/Approach
The report’s purpose is to understand the promotional activities that are being carried out by
CityCell to reach out to their customers. Thus, it can be said that this is mixture of majorly
descriptive research with a little exploratory research. The report has combination of both
quantitative and qualitative research. A deductive approach has been taken since it is better to
understand the theory and observing properly before narrowing down to a confirmation and
conclusion.
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3.2 Research Methods/ Designs
A wide range of research methods have been used in order to complete this research. The
primary research method is of primary data which was collected by conducting a face-to-face
interview with Mr. Anand Rajasingham, Head of Marketing of CityCell based on an open-ended
questionnaire (Appendix)
Apart from that, various secondary data were used from different marketing reference books and
the marketing websites (List of References). One of the prime websites used was of CitycCell,
www.citycell.com.
3.3 Limitations
No research carried out for preparing reports are free from limitations. Hence there are some
drawbacks of this report which analysis the Promotion tool of the 4Ps of Marketing.
• Due to the lack of time, information on various aspects of promotion was not collected.
• Company policies, rules and regulations did not allow the interviewee to share their facts,
figures and financial statements to get a clear quantitative idea.
• Lack of experience of taking good interviews lead to insufficient collection of data.
• The secondary data collected may not be 100% accurate apart from CityCell’s website.
• Due to shortage of time, perspective of CityCell employees and customers on promotion

could not be taken.
4 Results
The telecommunication industry of Bangladesh day by day is becoming highly competitive due
to the entrance of new companies such as Airtel as well as the rising demands of customers. In
this time of rising competition, companies need to come up with new strategies to hold onto their
current market share. And CityCell is trying their level best to do the same by connecting with
their valued customers by the means of extensive promotional activities.
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CityCell does not follow the eight steps leading to an effective

communication strategy. After segmenting the market and identifying their
target audience, they just plan up a combination of promotional tools to
start promoting their product/services. In some major cases, they evaluate
the effectiveness of the promotional tools, however most of the times they just
implement it and hope that their promotional tools will be able to attract and
retain customers.
4.1 Advertising
CityCell believes that advertising is the best way to interact and connect with
customers. Hence, they develop new advertisements to promote their mobile phone services
along with their value added services.
CityCell considers that television advertisements are the most effective way of communicating
with the customers since it is able to show them the essence of CityCell. Their television- ads are
often built on a story line which the ordinary man can relate with and is directed in such a way
that it attracts all kinds of customers. Through their ads they show beautiful scenery and
landscapes to highlight that wherever you go CityCell will always keep you connected. CityCell
ads are always about the ordinary people because they are their target market. Their ads on value
added services (Table 1) all keep the ordinary man in mind. Apart from that CityCell do have ads
regarding corporate and how CityCell makes them better.
CityCell’s most touching and innovative ad till date is of a school boy who walks into a CityCell
Customer Care Centre. Through this ad, CityCell tried to portray that even if you are child, you
are a valued customer for CityCell. Overall, it highlighted that CityCell belongs to everyone.
Apart from television ads, CityCell uses newspapers, magazines, billboards posters and even
brochures to share the benefits of CityCell with their users and keep them up-to-date with
CityCell’s latest and most innovative development.
CityCell even uses the radio to promote their new products, services and offers to their
customers.
4.2 Sales of Promotion
2
According to Mr.Rahman, CityCell considers that providing various forms of incentives and
rewards will retain and attract customers. Thus, they believe of undertaking various sales
promotion policies to increase their market share.
The main form of sales promotion activities is through discounts, contest and other activities.
CityCell provides discount offers from various departmental stores and rewards customers these
discounts on the basis of various contests and lotteries. CityCell Ace is an example of such a
practice. This provides discount benefits to all CityCell subscribers from 150 CityCell Partner
Outlets. All the customer has to do to enjoy instant discounts is just sent a text.
Also they provide discounts to students when they go to various educational institutions to
promote their products/services on instant purchase.
Apart from that CityCell tries to offer products/ services at a reduced rate from their competitors
to attract customers towards them just as they did by offering high speed low cost internet
facility through Zoom.
Another form of sales promotion done by CityCell is through entertainment where they help
organise concerts and other events to help a cause and raise funds for public exposure. In 2004,
they organised a concert in association with MBA Club to raise funds for the flood victims
4.3 Personal Selling, Public Relations and Events
To build up a stronger customer bond, CityCell makes use of the

benefits revolving around personal selling, public relations and events. CityCell considers that
through the components of these promotional tools CityCell can get closer to their customer and
develop a strong relationship. By a combination of these three techniques, an efficient, quality
and improved customer service can be provided to customers.
CityCell uses personal selling and public relations to attract and retain their
customers. They believe satisfying and keeping customers happy is the
best way towards success. They apply the rule of Personal Selling by
sending SMSs, MMSs to their existing customers telling them about their new offers and
2
promotions that will benefit them and make them more satisfied.
They also take part in various fairs and trade shows to inform people
about their new offers just like they did for CityCell Zoom. They
even went to the extreme of allowing their visitors to try out Zoom
internet for around 30 minutes and have a word with them to promote their new product.
CityCell is involved in various charitable donations, speeches and

seminars from the public relations perspective to inform their
customers their awareness towards society and social welfare. In
2008, CityCell donated 5 golf carts to the Kurmitola Golf Club (KGC)
to promote CityCell Zoom internet to convey to people how this new technology will improve
the lives of Bangladeshis. They also donated around TK490,000 to Dhaka Shishu Hospital to
help the underprivileged children for a better future. They have even made donations and relief
for the various people affected during floods cyclone Sidr and other natural disasters within
Bangladesh.
Apart from that, CityCell sponsors various events and also works with various organisations to
form a better bond with customers and increase customer loyalty. Through these events, they
want to inform customers about their awareness of various social issues and their efforts to make
the society of Bangladesh better. Recently, they joined the Khulna Metropolitan Police in a rally
against drugs and also in order to increase the awareness of breast feeding in Bangladesh they
collaborated with Japan Bangladesh Friendship Medical Services Limited. CityCell also
sponsored the Bangladesh Football Federation to bring back the passion for football in the
country.
All these personal selling, public relation and events activities help
CityCell connect with their customers leading to an increase in their
market share because it shows people that CityCell is always there for the people of Bangladesh.
4.4 Direct Marketing
When it comes to the new rising phenomenon of direct marketing, CityCell uses it mostly for
major corporate. CityCell uses mainly e-mail and faxes to inform corporate regarding their new
2
business offers and services their organisation can benefit from. Other than that, they have not
yet invested highly on Direct Marketing techniques for customers.
(PBTL,2009)
4.5 Budget for Promotion
Planning up the right budget for promotion is the most important aspect of a successful business.
CityCell believes that promotional activities are the next best thing after innovation they are most
concerned about. Innovation because research and development helps improve quality and
develop new products/services to maximise customer satisfaction.
As mentioned earlier in 2.5.3.5, there are four major budgeting methods. Based on those methods
and the interview, it was evaluated that CityCell uses the Affordable Method. This is where the
budget is determined based on the level of affordability. By doing so, Citycell has full control
and flexibility over the amount of money to be spent on promotion. It is the most easy and
common method used. However, to use this method CityCell needs to have employees who are
highly experiences otherwise they might end up spending less on promotion which might be
disadvantageous for them (Merrie Marketing,2010)
The table below shows the amounts of money CityCell spends on Promotion annually.
Promotional Technique Amount (Taka)

Advertising 150,000,000
Personal Selling 30,000,000
Sales Promotion 50,000,000
Public Relations 10,000,000
Events 25,000,000
Direct Marketing 5,000,000
Table 9. Budget on Promotion(PBTL,2009)
2
Fig.8 Budget on Promotion (Financial Report of CityCell)
5 Conclusion/Recommendation
The main purpose of this report was to analyse to what extent the theory of promotion relates to
the actual use of promotion for a particular company, in this case CityCell.
CityCell relies on promotion to a great extent to be successful. Promotion is one of the major
ways they try to attract and retain customers to gain a greater market share.
From the report, it can be concluded that CityCell uses all the major tools of promotion. Till date,
all their major television ads have earned them many accolades. Not only that their various sales
promotions has been popular amongst the customer. However, in today’s digitalised world, the
usage of direct marketing for promotion has began to grow rapidly. And this is the only
promotional tool that CityCell is not using properly. In order to ensure successful promotional
activity, CityCell should start investing more on direct marketing and make it one of their most
important tools for carrying out promotional activities. CityCell should also implement a
customer relationship management system in order to ensure that the direct marketing is a
success so that they can reap the maximum benefits from it.
CityCell should also start adopting the proper ways of creating an effective promotional strategy
(the eight strategies) to ensure success.
In this competitive telecommunication industry, it is necessary that CityCell has a sound

marketing plan otherwise considering its current situation; it may soon be out of business if it
does not start regaining its market share and accomplish all their key objectives and goals. Thus,
2
CityCell needs to become innovative not only in terms of product and services by also in terms
of a reliable and good promotional tactics.
List of References
• Interview with Mr. Anand Rajasingham, Head of Sales and Distribution of CityCell
conducted on 25th March 2010 at 12:00pm.
• Kotler, P & Keller, L 2005, Marketing Management, 12th Edition, Prentice Hall, India
• Kotler, P & Armstrong, G 2005, Principles of Marketing, 11th Edition, Prentice Hall
• Lancaster, G & Massingham, L 1993, Marketing Management
• PBTL 2009, CityCell, viewed on 3rd April 2010, <www.citycell.com>
• DoshDosh 2010, Push Marketing vs Pull Marketing: Using Both Strategies to Promote
Your Site, viewed on 5th April 2010, < http://www.doshdosh.com/push-marketing-vs-
pull-marketing>
2
• Tutor2u 2009, Promotion-Introduction to Promotional Mix, viewed on 5th April 2010,

<http://tutor2u.net/business/marketing/promotion_mix.asp>
• Tutor2u 2009, Promotion- Personal Selling, viewed on 5th April 2010,

<http://tutor2u.net/business/marketing/promotion_personalselling.asp>
• Tutor2u 2009, Direct Marketing, viewed on 5th April 2010,

<http://tutor2u.net/business/gcse/marketing_promotion_direct_marketing.htm>
• Drypen.in 2009, Advantages of Sales Promotion, viewed on 5th April 2010,

<http://drypen.in/sales-promotion/advantages-of-sales-promotion.html>
• Drypen,in 2009, Disadvantages of Sales Promotion, viewed on 5th April 2010,

<http://drypen.in/sales-promotion/disadvantages-of-sales-promotion.html>
• KnowThis LLC 2010, Disadvantages of Public Relations, viewed on 6th April 2010,
<http://www.knowthis.com/principles-of-marketing-tutorials/public-
relations/disadvantages-of-public-relations/>
• Merrie Marketing 2010, Budget Marketing aka The Affordable Market Budget, viewed on
7th April 2010, <http://www.marketing-your-network-marketing-business.com/budget-
marketing.html>
Questionnaire
This was the open-ended questionnaire presented to Mr. Anand Rajasingham, Head of Marketing
of CityCell to carry out the interview. I am highly grateful to Mr.Rajasingham for giving us time
out of his busy schedule so that the research on CityCell’s promotional activities could be carried
out.
1. What is the importance of Promotion to CityCell?
2. To what extent do you think Promotion influences CityCell’s rate of success?
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3. What are the major promotional tools of CityCell?
4. What are the major features that is taken into consideration when selecting a promotional
tool?
5. When you create an advertisement, what tends to be your major focus?
6. Till date, which CityCell televised ad is the most popular?
7. What are the various Sales Promotion activities that CityCell does?
8. What are the major public events and PR activities that CityCell has been a part of?
9. To what extent is Personal Selling important to CityCell? How does CityCell carry out
personal selling?
10. Why is direct marketing not one of the major promotional tools used by CityCell?
According to you, by not using direct marketing CityCell are losing out a great deal of
the market?
11. Which is the best promotional technique that CityCell uses the most? Why?
12. What is the budgeting technique of CityCell? How is it finalised?
13. If possible, can we get the budgeting details for a particular year?
14. How do you think CityCell can improve their promotional techniques?
15. According to you, what are the major risks to CityCell is a sound marketing strategy is
not implemented?

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LONDON SCHOOL OF COMMERCE,

Samiul islam Rikth

1.1.1 Introduction of Organisation

1.1.2 Product/Service of Organisation

Table 1. Products and Services

1.2 Specific Focus Area

1.3 Aims and Objective

1.2 Marketing Process

The model below illustrates the marketing process.

Understand Design a Construct a Build Capture value

Fig. 1 Marketing Process(Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.25)

1.3 Marketing Strategy

Fig. 2 Marketing Strategy and Marketing Mix(Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.67)

Planning Implementatio Control

Fig.3 Marketing Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control(Kotler and

1.4 Marketing Mix

(Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.70-71)

Product Price Place Promotion

Table.2 Elements of the 4Ps(Kotler and Keller,2005,p.19)

This report highlights the effectiveness of Promotion.

1.5.1 Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

1.5.2 Communication Process

1.5.3 Steps in Developing Effective Communication

Identify target audience, establish marketing

Establish behivoural influences

Determine information needs of target audience

Determine objectives and task for promotion

Determine overall budget on promotion

Determine the promotion mix allocation of tools

Measurement, Control and Feedback

Fig. 4 Eight Steps in Planning Communication strategies(Lancanster and

1.5.3.1 Identifying the Target Audience

1.5.3.2 Behavioural Characteristics of Target Audience

1.5.3.3 Establishment of Information Needs

1.5.3.4 Determine Objectives and Tasks

1.5.3.5 Determine Communication Budget

1.5.3.5.1 Affordable Method

1.5.3.5.2 Percentage of Sales Method

The promotion budget is determined as a percentage of forecasted sales or as a percentage of the

1.5.3.5.3 Competitive-Parity Method

The promotion budget is set based by matching the outlays of competitors.

1.5.3.5.4 Objective-and Task Method

(Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.460-461)

1.5.3.6 Determine the Promotional Mix

1.5.3.8 Measurement, Control and Feedback

1.6 Importance of Promotion

Promotion is an essential component to determine organisational success. It helps companies

1.7 Promotional Techniques- Push/Pull

1.8 Promotional Tools/Communication Mix

Advertising Personal Sales Public Direct Events /

Selling Promotion Relations Marketing Experiences

Budget Decisions • Message

reaches a wider audience satisfy all customer queries

1.8.2 Personal Selling

Fig.6 Decisions in Personal Selling(p.509)

Handling Closing Follow-up

Fig.7 Steps in Personal Selling(p.521)

(Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.507-21)

2.8.3 Sales Promotion

• It increases sales of organisations.

• It helps compete by providing differentiated offers.

• Consumers are more offer and deal orientated.

(Kotler and Armstrong,2006,p.490)