PROJECT REPORT ON

TO KNOW THE CUSTOMER RESPONSE TOWARDS ADVERTISING BY AIRTEL AND VODAFONE

BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINIATRATION

(2009-2012)

SUBMITTED TO: Miss Ragini Khanna

SUBMITTED BY Jaskiran Dhaliwal

Roll No- 14309000416

KHALSA COLLAGE FOR WOMEN, CIVIL LINES LUDHIANA

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project work TO KNOW THE CUSTOMER RESPONSE TOWARDS ADVERTISING BY AIRTEL AND VODAFONE IN TELECOME SECTOR submitted by Savleen Kaur (BBA 3rd year, Roll no 14309000416) of Khalsa College For Women, Ludhiana (Panjab University),under supervision of Ms. Ragini Khanna. Its further certified that this is bonafide work the candidate and the matter embedded in this project has not been submitted to any other university earlier for the award of any degree to the best of my knowledge. The data sources have been duly acknowledged.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I wish to express my deep gradtitude to Miss Rgini Khanna for acting as a guide and providing me with continuous support and guidance. This repot could not have been completed without the inputs and the words of advice from her far which I shall always remain grateful to her. I wish gratitude to my other faculty members for taking keen interest in my project work and fine-tuning my efforts as and when required.

Jaskiran Dhaliwal Roll.No- 14309000416

CONTENTS
S. NO 1 CONTENTS Introduction to the study Advertising. Types of advertising. 2 Telecom sector in India. Company profile Air Tel 3 Vodafone Organisation of study Objective of the study 4. 5. 5 Research methodology Limitation of Study Data analysis and Interpretations Findings Bibliography Questionnaire PAGE NO. 1-11 1-5 6-7 8-11 12-29 13-16 17-29 30 31-33 34 35-58 59 60 61-63

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

We are in the era of entertainment through mobile handsets. Downloading a ring tone watching your favourite movie of tracking cricket score the list of activity that you can do using your cell phone is endless. To supplement stagnant voice revenues cellular operator are now turning to VAS to boost revenues in both data and value added voice service. Both Air Tel and Vodafone has deep rooted presence in the Indian telecom sector through there wide product offerings and excellent distribution network In this report I have tried to analyze the present scenario of Indian telecom sector the real aim of the project is to study the effectiveness and response towards advertisement provided by Air Tel and Vodafone, but many sub objectives are also included under this project so as to make it comprehensive one. I complement this with the internal study of the companies history , vision business areas etc to analyze how well poised the company are to complete or rather just exist in this market that is proving itself to be the most competitive in post liberalization Indian economy. Primary data was collected in which focus group study was conducted to design the customer survey questionnaire with a sample size of 50 respondents. This survey was conducted in Ludhiana, secondary data was collected through websites articles etc. Data thus collected was analyzed and reported.

ADVERTISING
WHAT IS ADVERTISING? Advertising is a non-personal form of promotion that is delivered through selected media outlets that, under most circumstances, require the marketer to pay for message placement. Advertising has long been viewed as a method of mass promotion in that a single message can reach a large number of people. But, this mass promotion approach presents problems since many exposed to an advertising message may not be within the marketers target market, and thus, may be an inefficient use of promotional funds. However, this is changing as new advertising technologies and the emergence of new media outlets offer more options for targeted advertising. Advertising also has a history of being considered a one-way form of marketing communication where the message receiver (i.e., target market) is not in position to immediately respond to the message (e.g., seek more information). This too is changing. For example, in the next few years technologies will be readily available to enable a television viewer to click a button to request more details on a product seen on their favorite TV program. In fact, it is expected that over the next 10-20 years advertising will move away from a one-way communication model and become one that is highly interactive. Another characteristic that may change as advertising evolves is the view that advertising does not stimulate immediate demand for the product advertised. That is, customers cannot quickly purchase a product they see advertised. But as more media outlets allow customers to interact with the

messages being delivered the ability of advertising to quickly stimulate demand will improve.

IMPORTANCE OF ADVERTISING:
Spending on advertising is huge. One often quoted statistic by market research firm ZenithOptimedia estimates that worldwide spending on advertising exceeds (US) $400 billion. This level of spending supports thousands of companies and millions of jobs. In fact, in many countries most media outlets, such as television, radio and newspapers, would not be in business without revenue generated through the sale of advertising. While worldwide advertising is an important contributor to economic growth, individual marketing organizations differ on the role advertising plays. For some organizations little advertising may be done, instead promotional money is spent on other promotion options such a personal selling through a sales team. For some smaller companies advertising may consist of occasional advertisement and on a very small scale, such as placing small ads in the classified section of a local newspaper. But most organizations, large and small, that rely on marketing to create customer interest are engaged in consistent use of advertising to help meet marketing objectives. This includes regularly developing advertising campaigns, which involve a series of decisions for planning, creating, delivering and evaluating an advertising effort. We will cover advertising campaigns in greater detail in our next tutorial.

MANAGING ADVERTISING DECISIONS:

Delivering an effective marketing message through advertising requires many different decisions as the marketer develops their advertising campaign. For small campaigns, that involve little creative effort, one or a few people may handle the bulk of the work. In fact, the Internet has made do-it-yourself advertising an easy to manage process and has especially empowered small businesses to manage their advertising decisions. As we will see, not only can small firms handle the creation and placement of advertisements that appear on the Internet, new services have even made it possible for a single person to create advertisements that run on local television. For instance, a company called SpotRunner allows users to select from a list of high-quality television ads that can be customized and then placed within local cable television programming. For larger campaigns the skills needed to make sound advertising decisions can be quite varied and may not be easily handled by a single person. While larger companies manage some advertising activities within the company, they are more likely to rely on the assistance of advertising professionals, such as those found at advertising agencies, to help bring their advertising campaign to market.

TYPES OF ADVERTISING:
If you ask most people what is meant by type of advertising, invariably they will respond by defining it in terms of how it is delivered (e.g., television ad, radio ad, etc.). But in marketing, type of advertising refers to the primary focus of the message being sent and falls into one of the following four categories:

PRODUCT-ORIENTED ADVERTISING: Information Most advertising spending is directed toward the promotion of
a specific good, service or idea, what we have collectively labeled as an organizations product. In most cases the goal of product advertising is to clearly promote a specific product to a targeted audience. Marketers can accomplish this in several ways from a low-key approach that simply provides basic about a product (informative advertising) to blatant appeals that try to convince customers to purchase a product (persuasive advertising) that may include direct comparisons between the marketers product and its competitors offerings (comparative advertising). However, sometimes marketers intentionally produce product advertising where the target audience cannot readily see a connection to a specific product. Marketers of new products may follow this teaser approach in advance of a new product introduction to prepare the market for the product. For instance, one week before the launch of a new product a marketer may air a television advertisement proclaiming After next week the world will never be the same but do so without any mention of a product or even the company behind the ad. The goal is to create curiosity in the market and interest when the product is launched.

IMAGE ADVERTISING:
Image advertising is undertaken primarily to enhance an organizations perceived importance to a target market. Image advertising does not focus on specific products as much as it presents what an organization has to offer. In these types of ads, if products are mentioned it is within the context of what we do rather than a message touting the benefits of a specific product. Image advertising is often used in situations where an organization needs to educate the targeted audience on some issue. For instance, image advertising may be used in situations where a merger has occurred between two companies and the newly formed company has taken on a new name, or if a company has received recent negative publicity and the company wants to let the market know that they are about much more than this one issue.

ADVOCACY ADVERTISING:
Organizations also use advertising to send a message intended to influence a targeted audience. In most cases there is an underlying benefit sought by an organization when they engage in advocacy advertising. For instance, an organization may take a stand on a political issue which they feel could negatively impact the organization and will target advertisements to voice their position on the issue.

PUBLIC SERVICE ADVERTISING:

In some countries, not-for-profit organizations are permitted to run advertisements through certain media outlets free-of-charge if the message contained in the ad concerns an issue viewed as for the greater good of

society. For instance, ads directed at social causes, such as teen-age smoking, illegal drug use and mental illness, may run on television, radio and other media without cost to organizations sponsoring the advertisement.

TELECOM SECTOR IN INDIA

Than 125 million telephone network is one of the largest communication networks in world, which continues to grow at a blistering pace.

The rapid growth in the telecom sector can be attributed to the various proactive and positive policy measures taken by the government as well as the dynamic and entrepreneurial spirit of the various telecom service providers both in private and public sector. The telecom sector has shown impressive growth during the past decade. Today, more Two striking features of this growth viz. increasing preference for mobile phones and higher contribution of private sector in the incremental growth have predominated the telecom sector. The share of mobile phones (including WLL mobile) has overtaken the share of landlines with 62% in the total number of phones. The private sector's contribution is also increasing rapidly. Currently more than 30 lakh phones are being added each month and it is targeted that by the end of 2008 the total number of phones may reach a level of 350 million taking the tele-density to more than 30% which is currently at 24.63%. Network Expansion : The total number of telephone subscribers has reached 281.62 million at the end of January 2008 as compared to 232.87 million in July 2007. The overall teledensity has increased to 23.63% in January 2008 as compared to 21.20% in August 2007. Wireless Service: The wireless segment saw a surge of 8.77 million subscribers last month compared to 8.17 million in December2007. This pushed the total wireless subscribers base to 242.40 million by Jan 31 2008. Wireline Subscribers: The wireline segment subscriber base stood at 39.73 million with a decrease of 0.16 million at the end of January 2008. Teledensity: The gross subscriber base reached 206.83 million at the end of March 2007. The teledensity is 24.63%at the end of January 2008 as

compared to 18.31% at the end of March 2007, registering an increase of 6%. Increasing Role of Private Sector: The private sector has played a significant role in the growth of telecom sector. The share of private sector has risen to 85 per cent in December 2007 from 64.14 per cent in November 2006. Tariff Rebalancing Measures: There has been a dramatic fall in the tariffs due to increased competition. The minimum effective charges for local calls have fallen considerably in recent months especially for cellular service. The long distance domestic as well as international charges have also fallen considerably. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI): TRAI was established under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 enacted on March 28,1997. The goals and objectives of TRAI are focused towards providing a regulatory framework that facilitates achievement of the objectives of New Technology Policy (NTP) 1999. TRAI has endeavored to encourage greater corporation in the telecom sector together with better quality and affordable prices.

RURAL MOBILE MARKET IN INDIA

India's telecommunication sector is witnessing an explosive growth, as falling tariffs and rising incomes are bringing mobile phones within the reach of millions of new customers. Mobile industry players are eyeing rural

India as their new area of opportunity. The companies are getting a boost with the fact that the mobile users are expected to cross 230 Million by 2007 end and 500 Million by 2010 with an addition of about 5 to 6 Million subscribers every month. Cellular service providers seem to be answering the call of the wild as they are entering the so far ignored rural market. Although a huge market in the urban segment remains tapped, most of the cellular operators have turned towards rural India to broaden their base and reach. So the real growth is expected from this geography in near future. The low population density in rural areas has necessitated more towers of higher altitudes raising the costs further. Language is another problem and there are many dialects that had no alphabet in rural India. To meet these challenges, operators must come up with solutions like simplifying product access, offering customer centric solutions (like songs, music, hello tunes that are popular), and infrastructure sharing.

With saturation in the urban market, growth in Indian mobile market will be driven by an increased focus on the rural market, aggressive promotions, and handset bundle offers. As of March 2007, mobile subscribers in rural India accounted just 20% of the Indian mobile subscriber base. However, it is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of more than 47% during 2007 to 2010. In order to remain competitive, the mobile industry could see several mergers and acquisitions, roll out obligation and substantiate equity holding in more than one telecom company. The major growth in mobile phone subscribers will be seen in C' Circle and B' Circle in short-term.

Enormous opportunities are emerging for the low cost handset manufacturers along with low tariffs, infrastructure development for mobile communication. Rural India will account for around 35-38% of the total mobile handset sales by 2010

Rural India - Future Outlook of Mobile Industry The global mobile phone market is showing the signs of sluggishness but there is one telecom market growing at an outstanding pace - India. While the worldwide subscriber base posted a growth rate of around 25.7% from 2004 to 2006, subscriber base in India leaped by a strong 63.5% from March 2004 to March 2006 and further 83% from March 2006 to March 2007, according to the leading market research firm RNCOS. This huge growth prompted the research firm to thoroughly study the market and look for factors fuelling this outstanding growth in the Indian mobile market that have been compiled in the report, "Emerging Rural Mobile Market in India"

COMPANIES PROFILE AIRTEL AND VODAFONE

BHARTI AIRTEL

Bharti Airtel, formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (BTVL) is India's largest cellular service provider with more than 75 million subscribers as of August 2008.It also offers fixed line services and broadband services. It offers its TELECOM services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Mittal. The company also provides telephone services and Internet access over DSL in 14 circles. The company complements its mobile, broadband & telephone services with national and international long distance services. The company also has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore. The company provides end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate customers through its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing station. Bharti Airtel, formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (BTVL) is India's largest cellular service provider with more than 75 million subscribers as of August 2008. It also offers fixed line services and broadband services. It offers its TELECOM services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Mittal. The company also provides telephone services and Internet access over DSL in 14 circles. The company complements its mobile, broadband & telephone services with national and international long distance services. The company also has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore. The company provides end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate customers through its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile circles,

VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing station.

AIRTEL
Airtel is a brand of telecommunication services in India operated by Bharti Airtel. Airtel is the largest cellular service provider in India in terms of number of subscribers. Bharti Airtel owns the Airtel brand and provides the following services under the brand name Airtel: Mobile Services (using GSM Technology), Broadband & Telephone Services (Fixed line, Internet Connectivity(DSL) and Leased Line), Long Distance Services and Enterprise Services (Telecommunications Consulting for corporates). It has presence in all 23 circles of the country and covers 71% of the current population (as of FY07). Leading international telecommunication companies such as Vodafone and SingTel held partial stakes in Bharti Airtel.

SUBSCRIBER BASE: The Airtel subscriber base according to COAI - Cellular Operator Association of India as of May 2008 was:

Gujarat - 3,004,824 Andhra Pradesh - 6,516,332 Karnataka - 7,316,500 Tamil Nadu - 4,218,705 Kerala - 1,703,298 Punjab - 3,239,200 Haryana - 1,067,990 Uttar Pradesh (West) - 1,624,001 Uttar Pradesh (East) - 3,897,278 Rajasthan - 4,242,006 Madhya Pradesh - 3,084,776 West Bengal & Andaman and Nicobar - 2,106,163 Himachal Pradesh - 809,829 Bihar - 4,912,900 Orissa - 1,911,070 Assam - 939,746 North Eastern States - 585,213 Jammu & Kashmir - 1,100,069

The total is 67,425,935 or 32.81% of the total 205,460,762 GSM mobile connections in India till May 2008

VODAFONE ESSAR
Vodafone Essar, previously Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in India that covers 16 telecom circles in India Despite the official name being Vodafone Essar, its products are simply branded Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India and is especially strong in the major metros. Vodafone Essar provides 2G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM technology, offering voice and data services in 16 of the country's 23 licence areas. Vodafone Essar, previously Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in India that covers 16 telecom circles in India . Despite the official name being Vodafone Essar, its products are simply branded Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India and is especially strong in the major metros. Vodafone Essar provides 2G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM technology, offering voice and data services in 16 of the country's 23 licence areas. OWNERSHIP: Vodafone Essar is owned by Vodafone 52%, Essar Group 33%, and other Indian nationals, 15%. On February 11, 2007, Vodafone agreed to acquire the controlling interest of 67% held by Li Ka Shing Holdings in Hutch-Essar for US$11.1 billion,

pipping Reliance 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 May 8, 2007.

PREVIOUS BRANDS: In December 2006, Hutch Essar re-launched the "Hutch" brand nationwide, consolidating its services under a single identity. The Company entered into agreement with NTT DoCoMo to launch i-mode mobile Internet service in India during 2007. The company used to be named Hutchison Essar, reflecting the name of its previous owner, Hutchison. However, the brand was marketed as Hutch. After getting the necessary government approvals with regards to the acquisition of a majority by the Vodafone Group, the company was rebranded as Vodafone Essar. The marketing brand was officially changed to Vodafone on 20 September 2007. On September 20, 2007 Hutch becomes Vodafone in one of the biggest brand transition exercises in recent times. Vodafone Essar is spending somewhere in the region of Rs 250 crores on this high-profile transition being unveiled today. Along with the transition, cheap cell phones have been launched in the Indian market under the Vodafone brand. There are plans to launch co-branded handsets sourced from global vendors as well.

A popular daily quoted a Vodafone Essar director as saying that "the objective is to leverage Vodafone Group's global scale in bringing millions of low-cost handsets from across-the-world into India." While there is no revealing the prices of the low-cost Vodafone handsets, the industry is abuzz that prices might start at Rs 666, undercutting Reliance Communications' much-hyped 'Rang Barse' with cheap handsets beginning at Rs 777. Meanwhile, Vodafone Essar sources said there would be no discounts or subsidized handset offers -- rather handset-bundled schemes for customers. Incidentally, China's ZTE, which is looking to set-up a manufacturing unit in the country, is expected to provide several Vodafone handsets in India. Earlier this year, Vodafone penned a global low-cost handset procurement deal with ZTE.

APPLE I PHONE 3G:

Vodafone has successfully launched the Apple iPhone 3G in India. It has been made available to its consumers from the 22nd of August. The phone's launch saw a big celebration at select Vodafone stores and Vodafone sponsored malls across the country.

GROWTH OF HUTCHISON ESSAR (1992-2005):

In 1992 Hutchison Whampoa and its Indian business partner established a company that in 1994 was awarded a licence to provide mobile telecommunications services in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and launched

commercial service as Hutchison Max in November 1995. Analjit Singh of Max still holds 12% in company. By the time of Hutchison Telecom's Initial Public Offering in 2004, Hutchison Whampoa had acquired interests in six mobile telecommunications operators providing service in 13 of India's 23 licence areas and following the completion of the acquisition of BPL that number increased to 16. In 2006, it announced the acquisition of a company that held licence applications for the seven remaining licence areas. In a country growing as fast as India, a strategic and well managed business plan is critical to success. Initially, the company grew its business in the largest wireless markets in India - in cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. In these densely populated urban areas it was able to establish a robust network, well known brand and large distribution network -all vital to longterm success in India. Then it also targeted business users and high-end postpaid customers which helped Hutchison Essar to consistently generate a higher Average Revenue Per User ("ARPU") than its competitors. By adopting this focused growth plan, it was able to establish leading positions in India's largest markets providing the resources to expand its footprint nationwide. In February 2007, Hutchison Telecom announced that it had entered into a binding agreement with a subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc to sell its 67% direct and indirect equity and loan interests in Hutchison Essar Limited for a total cash consideration (before costs, expenses and interests) of approximately US$11.1 billion or HK$87 billion. 1992: Hutchison Whampoa and Max Group established Hutchison Max

2000: Acquisition of Delhi operations Entered Calcutta and Gujarat markets through ESSAR acquisition 2001: Won auction for licences to operate GSM services in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Chennai 2003: Acquired AirCel Digilink (ADIL - Essar Subsidiary) which operated in Rajastan, Uttar Pradesh East and Haryana telecom circles and renamed it under Hutch brand 2004: Launched in three additional telecom circles of India namely 'Punjab', 'Uttar Pradesh West' and 'West Bengal' 2005: Acquired BPL, another mobile service provider in India 2008: Vodafone acquired Dishnet Wireless, a service provider in Orissa and has successfully launched its services in the following circle. 2008: Vodafone launched the Apple iPhone 3G to be used on its 17 circle 2G network. Hutch was often praised for its award winning advertisements which all follow a clean, minimalist look. A recurrent theme is that its message Hello stands out visibly though it uses only white letters on red background. Another recent successful ad campaign in 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.

SUBSCRIBER BASE:
The Vodafone subscriber base according to COAI - Cellular Operator Association of India as of March 2008 was:

Delhi - 3,216,769 Mumbai - 3,451,567 Chennai - 1,174,589 Kolkata - 1,974,177 Maharashtra & Goa - 2,610,389 Gujarat - 6,010,594 Andhra Pradesh - 2,601,458 Karnataka - 2,850,346 Tamil Nadu - 3,180,820 Kerala - 2,001,133 Orissa - 520772 Punjab - 1,645,501 Haryana - 1,282,208 Uttar Pradesh (West) -2,858,429 Uttar Pradesh (East) -3,508,355 Rajasthan - 2,934,598 West Bengal & Andaman and Nicobar - 2,825,310

The total is 44,126,243 or 22.93% of the total 192,355,939 GSM mobile connections in India till March 2008.

VODAFONE IN EUROPE
Majority-owned Minority-owned No Ownership Albania Czech Republic Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Malta Netherlands Northern Cyprus Portugal Romania France Poland Austria Bulgaria Croatia Belgium Channel Islands Cyprus

Denmark Estonia Finland Iceland Faroe Islands Latvia

Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Norway Serbia Sweden Slovenia Switzerland

HISTORY:

In 1982 Racal Electronics plc's subsidiary Racal Strategic Radio Ltd. won one of two UK cellular telephone network licences. The network, known as Racal Vodafone was 80% owned by Racal, with Millicom and the Hambros Technology Trust owning 15% and 5% respectively. Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985. Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal Telecommunications Group Limited in 1985.On 29 December 1986 Racal Electronics bought out the minority shareholders of Vodafone for GB110 million. In September 1988 the company was again renamed Racal Telecom and on 26 October 1988 Racal Electronics floated 20% of the company. The flotation valued Racal Telecom at GB1.7 billion. On 16 September 1991 Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal Electronics as Vodafone Group. In July 1996 Vodafone acquired the two thirds of Talkland it did not already own for 30.6 million. On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone purchased Peoples Phone for 77 million, a 181 store chain whose customers were overwhelmingly using Vodafone's network. In a similar move the company acquired the 80% of Astec Communications that it did not own, a service provider with 21 stores. In 1997 Vodafone introduced its Speechmark logo, as it is a quotation mark in a circle; the O's in the Vodafone logotype are opening and closing quotation marks, suggesting conversation. On 29 June 1999 Vodafone completed its purchase of AirTouch Communications, Inc. and changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch plc. Trading of the new company commenced on 30 June 1999. To approve the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in E-Plus Mobilfunk. The acquisition

gave Vodafone a 35% share of Mannesmann, owner of the largest German mobile network. Vodafone's original logo used until the introduction of the speechmark logo in 1998. On 21 September 1999 Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with those of Bell Atlantic Corp to form Verizon Wireless. The merger was completed on 4 April 2000. In November 1999 Vodafone made an unsolicited bid for Mannesmann, which was rejected. Vodafone's interest in Mannesmann had been increased by the latter's purchase of Orange, the UK mobile operator.Chris Gent would later say Mannesmann's move into the UK broke a "gentleman's agreement" not to compete in each other's home territory. The hostile takeover provoked strong protest in Germany and a "titanic struggle" which saw Mannesmann resist Vodafone's efforts. However, on 3 February 2000 the Mannesmann board agreed to an increased offer of 112bn, then the largest corporate merger ever. The EU approved the merger in April 2000. The conglomerate was subsequently broken up and all manufacturing related operations sold off. In 2001 the Company took over Eircell, then part of eircom in Ireland, and rebranded it as Vodafone Ireland. It then went on to acquire Japan's thirdlargest mobile operator J-Phone, which had introduced camera phones first in Japan. On 17 December 2001 Vodafone introduced the concept of "Partner Networks" by signing TDC Mobil of Denmark. The new concept involved the introduction of Vodafone international services to the local market,

without the need of investment by Vodafone. The concept would be used to extend the Vodafone brand and services into markets where it does not have stakes in local operators. Vodafone services would be marketed under the dual-brand scheme, where the Vodafone brand is added at the end of the local brand. (i.e., TDC Mobil-Vodafone etc.) In February 2002 Finland was added into the mobile community, as Radiolinja is signed as a Partner Network. Radiolinja later changed its named to Elisa. Later that year the Company rebranded Japan's J-sky mobile internet service as Vodafone live! and on 3 December 2002 the Vodafone brand was introduced in the Estonian market with signing of a Partner Network Agreement with Radiolinja (Eesti). Radiolinja (Eesti) later changed its name to Elisa. On 7 January 2003 the Company signed a group-wide Partner agreement with mobilkom Austria. As a result, Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia were added to the community. In April 2003 Og Vodafone was introduced in the Icelandic market and in May 2003 Vodafone Italy (Omnitel Pronto-Italia) was rebranded Vodafone Italy. On 21 July 2003 Lithuania was added to the community, with the signing of a Partner Network agreement with Bit. In February 2004 Vodafone signed a Partner Network Agreement with Luxembourg's LuxGSM and a Partner Network Agreement with Cyta of Cyprus. Cyta agreed to rename its mobile phone operations to CytamobileVodafone. In April 2004 the Company purchased Singlepoint airtime provider from John Caudwell (Caudwell Group) and approx 1.5million customers onto its base for 405million, adding sites in Stoke on Trent (England) to existing sites in Newbury (HQ), Birmingham, Warrington and Banbury. In November 2004 Vodafone introduced 3G services into Europe.

In June 2005 the Company increased its participation in Romania's Connex to 99% and also bought the Czech mobile operator Oskar. On 1 July 2005 Oskar of the Czech Republic was rebranded as Oskar-Vodafone. Later that year on 17 October 2005 Vodafone Portugal launched a revised logo, using new text designed by Dalton Maag, and a 3D version of the Speechmark logo, but still retaining a red background and white writing (or vice versa). Also, various operating companies started to drop the use of the SIM card pattern in the company logo. (The rebranding of Oskar-Vodafone and Connex-Vodafone also does not use the SIM card pattern.) A custom typeface by Dalton Maag (based on their font family InterFace) formed part of the new identity. On 28 October 2005 Connex in Romania was rebranded as ConnexVodafone and on 31 October 2005 the Company reached an agreement to sell Vodafone Sweden to Telenor for approximately 1 billion. After the sale, Vodafone Sweden became a Partner Network. In December 2005 Vodafone won an auction to buy Turkey's second-largest mobile phone company, Telsim, for $4.5 billion. In December 2005 Vodafone Spain became the second member of the group to adopt the revised logo: it was phased in over the following six months in other countries. In 2006 the Company rebranded its Stoke-on-Trent site as Stoke Premier Centre, a centre of expertise for the company dealing with Customer Care for its higher value customers, technical support, sales and credit control. All cancellations and upgrades started to be dealt with by this call centre. On 5 January 2006 Vodafone announced the completion of the sale of Vodafone Sweden to Telenor. On February 2006 the Company closed its Birmingham Call Centre. In 1 February 2006 Oskar Vodafone became Vodafone Czech

Republic, adopting the revised logo and on 22 February 2006 the Company announced that it was extending its footprint to Bulgaria with the signing of Partner Network Agreement with Mobiltel, which is part of mobilkom Austria group. On 12 March 2006 former chief, Sir Christopher Gent, who was appointed the honorary post Chairman for Life in 2003, quits following rumours of boardroom rifts. In April 2006 the Company announced that it has signed an extension to its Partner Network Agreement with BITE Group, enabling its Latvian subsidiary "BITE Latvija" to become the latest member of Vodafone's global partner community. Also in April 2006 Vodafone Sweden changed its name to Telenor Sverige AB and Connex-Vodafone became Vodafone Romania, also adopting the new logo. On 30 May 2006 Vodafone announced the biggest loss in British corporate history (14.9 billion) and plans to cut 400 jobs; it reported one-off costs of 23.5 billion due to the revaluation of its Mannesmann subsidiary. On 24 July 2006 the respected head of Vodafone Europe, Bill Morrow, quit unexpectedl and on 25 August 2006 the Company announced the sale of its 25% stake in Belgium's Proximus for 2 billion. After the deal, Proximus was still part of the community as a Partner Network. On 5 October 2006 Vodafone announced the first single brand partnership with Og Vodafone which would operate under the name Vodafone Iceland and on 19 December 2006 the Company announced the sale of its 25% stake in Switzerland's Swisscom for CHF4.25 billion (1.8 billion). After the deal, Swisscom would still be part of the community as a Partner Network. Finally in December 2006 the Company completed the acquisition of Aspective, an enterprise applications systems integrator in the UK, signaling Vodafone's intent to grow a significant presence and revenues in the ICT marketplace.

Early in January 2007 Telsim in Turkey adopted Vodafone dual branding as Telsim Vodafone and on 1 April 2007 Telsim Vodafone Turkey dropped its original brand and became Vodafone Turkey. On 1 May 2007 Vodafone added Jersey and Guernsey to the community, as Airtel was signed as Partner Network in both crown dependencies. In June 2007 the Vodafone live! mobile Internet portal in the UK was relaunched. Front page was now charged for and previously "bundled" data allowance was removed from existing contract terms. All users were given access to the "full" web rather than a Walled Garden and Vodafone became the first mobile network to focus an entire media campaign on its newly launched mobile Internet portal in the UK. On 1 August 2007 Vodafone Portugal launched Vodafone Messenger, a service with Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger. On 17 April 2008 Vodafone extended its footprint to Serbia as Vip mobile was added to the community as a Partner Network and on 20 May 2008 the Company added VIP Operator as a Partner Network thereby extending the global footprint to Macedonia. In May 2008 Kall of the Faroe Islands rebranded as Vodafone Faroe Islands.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
To know relative customer response towards ADVERTISEMENT by Air Tel and Vodafone in the telecom sector.

OBJECTIVE:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

How

people

of

different

age

group

respond

to

ADVERTISEMENT. Positioning strategies use by telecom companies and their To find out relative customer perception. To find out which telecom company have good advertising impact on customer.

and what type of advertising subscriber like. Role of advertisements on the buying behavior of the customer.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research methodology that I undertook for the purpose of this study is enumerated belowPRIMARY RESEARCH: This consisted questionnaire and interaction from various people. A focus group study will be conducted to design the customer survey questionnaire

with a sample size of 50 respondents. The survey was conducted in Ludhiana, Punjab. SECONDARY RESEARCH: Sources of secondary data were primarily the Internet , journals , newspaper, annual report, database available in the library, catalogues and presentations. RESEARCH DESIGN: DESCRIPTIVE Descriptive studies are well structured, they tend to be rigid and its approach can not be changed every now and then. Descriptive study can be divided in two categories: (A) Cross sectional (B) Longitudinal Descriptive study are undertaken in many circumstances: 1. when the researcher is interested in knowing the characteristics of certain groups such as age , profession. 2. when the researcher is interested in knowing the proportion of people in given population who have behaved in a particular manner, making projection of certain things. The objective of this kind of study is to answer the why, who, ,what ,when and how of the subject under consideration.

I will be taking descriptive because my research includes the knowing the behavior of customer towards advertisement. I will be working on to know how people of various age group respond to different advertising or there perception towards advertisement. Also my survey is related to two companies Air Tel and Vodafone.

TYPES OF QUESTIONS: OPEN ENDED: They give the respondents complete freedom to decide the form , length and detail of the answer. Open questions are preferred when the researchers is interested in knowing what is upper most in the mind of respondents. DICHOTOMOUS: This type of questions have only two type of answer, yes or no. true or false etc. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS: In the case of multiple choice question the respondents is offered two or more choices. The researcher exhausts all the possible choices and the respondent has to indicate which one is applicable in this case.

LIMITATION OF STUDY
The study was confined to some areas of Ludhiana city only. Chances of some biasness could not be eliminated. Time was major constrain. Only limited sample size (50) was possible for such a vast research on such a period of time. Interaction with the respondents was also limited due to their busy work. There was a chance that respondent will make assumptions while filling questionnaire.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

After the data collection, it was compiled, classified and tabulated manually and with help of computer. Then the task of drawing inferences was accomplished with the help of percentage and graphic method. Different suggestions given by me to the Company after analyzing the views of every respondent are also given in the report.

Keeping in mind the objectives of the study, the survey was being done and following interpretation was being drawn.

DEMOGARPHIC FEATURES OF REPONDENTS

1. Sex ratio of the respondents
S.NO. A B PARTICULARS MALE FEMALE NUMBER 39 11 %AGE 78% 22%

DEMOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
90% 80% 70% 60% 50%

Percentage of Respondents

40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

male female

GENDER
INTERPRETATION: The graphical representation of the table shows that out of 50 respondents 39 were male and 11 were female.

2.

AGE GROUP OF RESPONDENTS PARTICULARS 15-25 25-35 35-45 45 above NUMBER 21 18 6 5 %AGE 42% 36% 12% 10%

S.NO. A B C D

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 % age

15-25 25-35 35-45 45 above

INTERPRETATION: The graphical representation of the table shows that out of total respondents 42% were of age 15-25, 36% 25-35, 12% 35-45, and rest were above 45.

3.

LITERACY RATE AMONG THE RESPONDENTS

S.NO. A B C D

PARTICULARS MATRICULATE INTERMEDIATE GRADUATION POST-GRADUATION

NUMBER 8 17 19 6

%AGE 16 34 38 12

40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 % age matric intermediate graduate P.G

INTERPRETATION: The graphical representation of the table shows that out of total respondents 8 were matriculate,17 were intermediate,19graduateand rest 6 were postgraduate.

4.Who is your current service provider?

S.NO. A PARTICULARS AIRTEL NUMBER 14 %AGE 28

B C

VODAFONE OTHERS

25 11

50 22

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 % AGE AIRTEL VODAFONE OTHERS

INTERPRETATION : The 14 person were used Air Tel and 25 person were used vodaphone and 11 were used other.

5. For how long you are using this mobile connection?

AIRTEL S.NO. A B C PARTICULARS Less than 6 months 6 to 12 months Above 12 months NUMBER 2 3 9 %AGE 14% 21% 65%

70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% less than 6 12-Jun above 12

Interpretation Two person were used since six month and three were used since twelve months and nine were used since two year.

VODAFONE
S.NO. A B C PARTICULARS Less than 6 months 6 to 12 months Above 12 months NUMBER 1 3 21 %AGE 4% 12% 84%

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 % age less than 6 12-Jun above 12

INTERPRETATION: The one person were used since six months and three were used since one year and twenty were used since two year

OTHERS
S.NO. A B C PARTICULARS Less than 6 months 6 to 12 months Above 12 months NUMBER 1 2 8 %AGE 9% 18% 73%

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 % age less than 6 12-Jun above 12

INTERPRETATION: The one person were used since six months and two were used since one year and eight were used since two year.

What were the reason for choosing this mobile connection?

AIRTEL S.NO. A B C D PARTICULARS Recommended by friends and relative Recommended by retailer Brand image Advertisement NUMBER %AGE 5 2 1 6 36% 14% 7% 43%

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 % age

by frnd&rltv by retailer brand image advertise

INTREPRETATION Fife were recommended by friends and relative and two were by retailer and one were by brand image and six were by advertisement.

VODAFONE S.NO. A B C D PARTICULARS Recommended by friends and relative Recommended by retailer Brand image Advertisement NUMBER 6 2 7 10 %AGE 24% 8% 28% 40%

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 by frnd &rltv by rtlr brnd img advrtisemnt

INTREPRETATION Six were recommended by friends and relative and two were by retailer and seven were by brand image and ten were by advertisement.

OTHERS S.NO. A B C D PARTICULARS Recommended by friends and relative Recommended by retailer Brand image Advertisement NUMBER 2 2 6 1 %AGE 18 18 55 9

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 % age by frnd rltv by rtlr brand img advertisement

INTREPRETATION Two were recommended by friends and relative and two were by retailer and six were by brand image and one were by advertisement.

6. While purchasing a connection does advertisement plays any role?

S.NO. A B PARTICULARS Yes No NUMBER 42 8 %AGE 84% 16%

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 % age yes no

Interpretation The fourty two person were say yes and eight were says no.

7. from where you watch the advertisement most?

S.NO. A B C D Television Radio Newspaper Magazines PARTICULARS NUMBER 31 0 11 8 %AGE 62% 0% 22% 16%

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 % age Television Radio Newspaper magazines

Interpretation: The mostly people sees advertisement in the television.

8. Which telecommunication have good advertisements?

S.NO. A B C Air Tel Vodafone Any other PARTICULARS NUMBER 21 24 5 %AGE 42 48 10

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 % AGE

AIRTEL VODAFONE ANYOTHER

Interpretation: The mostly Vodafone have good advertisement.

9. How well advertisements of the Air Tel catch your attention?

S.NO. A B C D Very well Somewhat well Undecided Not at all PARTICULARS NUMBER 22 12 6 10 %AGE 44 24 12 20

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 % age

very well somewhat well undecided not at all

Interpretation: The 22 person says very well and 12 person says some what well and 6 were undecided and 10 were says no.

10. How well did the advertisement of Vodafone catch your attention?
S.NO. A B C D Very well Somewhat well Undecided Not at all PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE 26 10 6 8 52 20 12 16

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 very well somewhatwll undecided not at all

Interpretation The 26 person says very well and 10 person says some what well and 6 were undecided and 8 were says no.

11.

Do you think that advertisement made by company informs you about there new products?

S.NO. A B C YES NO

PARTICULARS

NUMBER %AGE 34 12 4 68 24 8

UNDECIDED

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 % AGE YES NO UNDECIDED

Interpretation The 34 person says yes and 12 person says no and 4 person were no response.

12.

Based on advertisements made by company, would you like to go for more connection for you or your family in future?

S.NO. A B C

PARTICULARS

NUMBER 38 7 5

%AGE 76 14 10

YES
NO UNDECIDED

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 yes no undecided

Interpretation: The 38 person says yes and 7 person says no and 5 person were no response.

13.

Do you consider mobile number portability to be a significant features?

S.NO. A B

PARTICULARS

NUMBER 42 8 50

%AGE 84% 16% 100%

YES
NO Total

INTEPRETATION: The above pie chart shows that 42 respondents consider mobile number portability to be a significant features and 8 respondent feel that its not a significant feature.

14.

Which provider offers better mobile number portability services.

S.NO. A B

PARTICULARS

NUMBER 30 12 42

%AGE 71% 29% 100%

Airtel
Vodafone Total

Interpretatoin: The pie chart shows that Airtel offers better number portability services.

15.

Better promotion campaign.

S.NO. A B

PARTICULARS

NUMBER 30 20 50

%AGE 60% 40% 100%

Zoo-zoo by Vodafone
Friends Anthem by Airtel Total

Interpretation: The above pie chart shows that people like Zoo-zoo by Vodafone Better.

Q.16 (a) Have you ever felt deceived by a commercial raving about the brands?
S.NO. A B PARTICULARS NUMBER 40 10 50 %AGE 80% 20% 100%

Yes
No Total

INTERPRETATION: Out of 50 respondents, 10 respondents feel that the TV commercials are not always reliable and 40 respondent feel that TV commercials are authentic.

b)

Commercial for the brand that looked deceiving?

PARTICULARS NUMBER 2 1 7 10 %AGE 20% 10% 70% 100%

S.NO. A B C

Airtel
Vodafone Any other Total

INTERPRETATION: Out of 10 respondents, 7 felt deceived by other brands wheras only one and two felt deceived by Vodafone and Airtel respectively.

FINDINGS
1.

Maximum respondents were using mobile phones for more than one year. People like to watch advertisement on television mostly. Respondents like to purchase new mobile connection based on advertisements and schemes. Maximum respondents were in favor of that, Vodafones advertising is better than other companies. Maximum number of respondents were in favor of that, they would like to purchase more connection of the company with good advertisement policy.

2. 3.

4.

5.

6.

Less people feel reluctant to rely on the commercials.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.wikipedia.com www.ask.com www.scribd.cm www.bhartiteleventures.com www.vodafone.co.in www.google.com

QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear Sir/Madam I am Jaskiran Dhaliwal, student of BBA-3 rd at Khalsa College for Women, Civil Lines, Ludhiana and I am doing a project TO KNOW THE CUSTOMER RESPONCE TOWARDS ADVERTISING BY AIRTEL AND VODAFONE IN THE TELECOM SECTOR Please co-operate to fill this questionnaire. Basic Information: Name _________________________________________ Sex: Age: (a) Male (a) 15-25 (c) 35-45 Education: (a) Matriculate (C) Graduation 1. Who is your current service provider? a) Airtel b) Vodafone c) Any other ________________ (b) Female (b) 25-35 (d) Above 45 (b) Intermediate (d) Postgraduate

2. For how long have you been using this mobile connection? a) less than 6 months. b) 6 to 12 months. c) Above 12 months. 3. What were the reasons for choosing this mobile connection? a) Recommended by friends or relatives. b) Recommended by retailers. c) Brand image d) Advertisement

4. While purchasing a connection advertising plays any role? a) Yes b) No

5. From where you watch the advertisement most? a) Television b) Radio c) Newspaper d) Magazines 6. Which telecommunication have good advertising? a) Air Tel b) Vodafone c) Any other 7. How well did advertisement of the AirTel catch your attention? a) Very well b) Somewhat well c) Undecided d) Not at all. 8.How well did the advertisement of the Vodafone catch your attention? a) Very well b) somewhat well c) undecided d) Not at all 9. Do you think that advertisement made by company informs you about there products? a) Yes b) No c) Undecided 10. Based on advertisements made by company , would you like to go for more connection for you or your family in future? a) Yes. b) No. c) Not decided. 11. a) Do you consider mobile number probability to be a significant features? a) Yes b) No b) 12. If yes, then which provider do you think is better in this respect Do you think various promotional campaigns of there companies are of any help to their advertising strategies?

Yes 13.

No

Which promotional compaign do you find more appealing? Zoo-zoo by Vodafone brand? Yes No At times Friends Anthem by Airtel

14. (a) Do you change your perception of a brand depending upon the endorsing the

(b)

If, yes, then which of the two brands could successfully make you switch your preference to itself through celebrity promoting it Airtel Yes Vodafone No Vodafone Any other ______________

15. (a) Have you ever felt deceived by the commercials raving about the brands (b) If yes, which brand made you feel so? Airtel

16. (a) Has any advertisement ever left a negative unact of the brand being promoted, on you be cause if sounded anecdotal? Yes (b) Airtel No Vodafone Any other ______________ Which brand was it promoting?

Thanks for your valuable time and co-operation