BACKGROUND NOTE

Sunil Bharti Mittal (S.B. Mittal) laid the foundations of the New
Delhi based Bharti Group in the 1970s with a small bicycle-parts
business.

In 1985, he entered the telecom business by establishing Bharti
Telecom Limited (BTL) that manufactured telephonic equipment.

In the same year, BTL entered into
technical collaboration with Siemens AG(Germany) for
manufacturing electronic push button telephones.

BTL also signed an agreement with Takacom Corporation
(Japan) for manufacturing telephone answering machines.

Over the years, BTL tied up with leading telephone equipment
manufacturers from countries such as South Korea and US.

The group entered the telecommunication (telecom)
industry during the early-1990s.

Bharti Tele-Ventures, a part of Bharti group, offered various
telecom services such as fixed line, cellular, V-SAT and
Internet services.

The operations of Bharti Tele-Ventures were run by
four wholly owned subsidiaries. These were:
o Bharti Cellular Ltd. (Cellular),
o Bharti Telenet Ltd. (Access),
o Bharti Telesonic Ltd. (Long Distance) and
o Bharti Broadband Networks Ltd. (Broadband Solutions).

The flagship services of the Bharti group included Airtel
(cellular), Mantra (Internet Services) and Beetel (telephone
instruments).
In 1992, Bharti entered the cellular market by launching services in
Delhi. Over the next few years, it also entered other telecom
circles.

In the early 2000s, Bharti invested heavily in the acquisitions and
alliances to expand its cellular market in India. As a part of this, Bharti
acquired JT Mobile (Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka), SkyCell(Chennai)
and Spice Cell (Kolkata).

It even announced plans to acquire Usha Martin, the leading cellular
service in Kolkata.

It also entered into collaborative agreements with BPL to gain seamless
access in Mumbai, Maharashtra, Chennai, Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Bharti launched Airtel as a post paid cellular service in Delhi in
November 1995. Over the next few years, the company
redefined the way cellular services were being marketed
in the country.
Positioning As a Concept



Positioning is a concept in marketing which was first
introduced by Jack Trout ( "Industrial Marketing
Magazine- June/1969) and then popularized by Al
Ries and Jack Trout in their bestseller book
"Positioning - The Battle for Your Mind." (McGraw-Hill 1981)

Positioning is also defined as the way by which the
marketers create an impression in the customers mind.
Positioning - Airtel


The tariff rates charged by the government were quite high. Cellular
players has little choice but to impose high call charges on their
customers. Airtime rates were as high as Rs 16 per minute as against
Rs 1.20 for landline communication.

Thus, all players targeted the premium sector, which could
afford the rates. Airtel was also positioned in the premium category,
aimed at the elite class of the society.

And then Airtel Positioned itself as, AIRTEL- touch tomorrow

Positioning - Airtel
Leadership series campaign

Positioned in premium category aimed at elite class
of society.

Perception of inspirational and lifestyle brand.

Airtel decided that the brand should always
connote leadership - be it in network, innovations,
offerings or services
Jack Trout and Al Ries published their classic bestseller,
Positioning: The Battle for Your Minda book that revolutionized the world
of marketing. But times have changed. Competition is fiercer. Consumers
are savvier. Communications are faster. And once-successful companies
are in crisis mode.

Repositioning shows you how to adapt, competeand succeedin
todays overcrowded marketplace. Global marketing expert Jack Trout
has retooled his most effective positioning strategiesproviding a must-
have arsenal of proven marketing techniques specifically redesigned for
our current climate. With Repositioning, you can conquer the 3 Cs of
business: Competition, Change, and Crisis . . .

BEAT THE COMPETITION: Challenge your rivals, differentiate your product,
increase your value, and stand out in the crowd.

CHANGE WITH THE TIMES: Use the latest technologies, communications,
and multimedia resources to connect with your consumers.

MANAGE A CRISIS: Cope with everything from profi t losses and rising costs
to bad press and PR nightmares.
Repositioning As a Concept
Need for Repositioning in 2002


India being one of the fast developing nations it was being seen
as a high potential market.

International and domestic players entered the segment, which
increased the competition.

Due to these changes, Bharti realized the need for Repositioning
Airtel to increase its market share.

Rather than focusing on the value (delivered by the services), the
company chose to address the visual benefits delivered to the
customers.

In the words of Hemant Sachdev, Director
(Marketing), Bharti Group, Instead of the value-proposition
model, we decided to address the sensory benefit it gave to
the customer as the main selling tack. The idea was to become a
badge value brand.
As prices of call per rate was reduced competition was
increased Bharti Airtel had to change their strategy and
segment the market again

Then there was series strategies which Airtel needed to
undergo, for making themselves visible in market

First they needed to make a proper image so they came out
with Airtel- Express Yourself campaign.

Bharti's decision to withdraw this campaign (Touch Tomorrow)
in 2002 came as a surprise to many which changed logo as
well.

Tagline- Express Yourself.

Changed its logo to give more energetic and younger look.

Advertisements in regional languages with emotional touch.

Advertisements were made to highlight the capability of Airtel's
network coverage.
Repositioning of airtel
It gave them a Brand image in Telecom Sector.

It appealed consumers, in every possible way they segmented.
Here they not only segmented the premium class customers, but
upper middle class lower middle class.

And majorly targeted college going students, which it referred as
YOUTOPIA .

Different plans and schemes were offered.

Also Airtel sold sim cards for free of cost outside colleges,
which attracted and gained a greater customer base.
After 4 moths of Launching
Youtopia, Airtel increased its
customer base to 130% close to 2.5
lakhs subscriber in Chennai.
And then there were series of Campaigns and
increasing subscribers in the Airtel family.
Special 5 plan
(to compete with
Vodafone)
Legendary A.R Rahman

Airtel shifts from being a
'technology' brand to a
'communication' brand - as
the category witnesses high
growth and is set to expand
beyond voice and text. AR
Rahman creates the
signature tune. Rediffusion
YR is the creative agency.
A.R Rahman was the first Music
Director to become the Brand
Ambassador of any telecom
services in India. And it created
a great impact in the mind of
customers.
Repositioning - AIRTEL Once Again
Repositioning - AIRTEL Once Again
As part of its restructuring and repositioning exercise, Bharti
unveiled a new brand architecture.

When Airtel launched its new logo in 2010, there was no
street, no traffic junction, no major hording left untouched by
the striking red and white combination of its unique new
design.

Major upgrade by Airtel to its visual brand representation was
precisely a desire to stay relevant (in the consumers' minds) in
a changed world.

Logo becomes the visual depiction of the entire company.

The new positioning strategy was to appeal generation now,
as it was introducing new services of 3g, video calling,
video downloading, Airtel money and so on.
Plans introduced after new logo
Airtel money is just like a bank account
on fingertips, it pays your electricity bill,
phone bill, gas bill, credit card bill,
movies, transfers, NEFTs, so on.
It also helps you earn interest.
Airtel money has partnered with-

Axis bank for banking related help.
Book My Show
IRCTC for railway Airfare booking
DTH recharges of Dish tv, Sun tv, Videocon, Tata Sky, etc.
Telecom Payments
Pvr Cinemas.
Online shopping (HS18, myntra, ebay, etc)
All Dongal payments
Make my trip, Cox&kings, Incredible India, etc
HAR EK FRIEND JAROORI HAI
YAAR,
AUR JO MERA HAI VO TERA HAI
Airtel has been very creative which is visual in their
advertisements

Established & Position-
Bharti Airtel Limited operates in 20 countries across Asia and
Africa. It ranks amongst the top 4 mobile service providers
globally in terms of subscribers.

Bharti Airtel had over 269 million customers across its
operations at the end of March 2013.

Second in India for Corporate plans.

Considered a trusted brand.

A brand which always delivers innovations to
market.
CONCLUSION

JUGAL THAKKAR
AKSHAY SHETTY
RAJATH SHETTY
SUMIT SRIVASTAVA
UJWAL SUVARNA