The document is a presentation by Manik Gupta for a PGDM class discussing the evolution of Airtel's brand strategy. Initially positioned as a premium mobile service for elite customers, Airtel shifted to a more humanized approach with campaigns like 'Touch Tomorrow' and 'Express Yourself' to appeal to a broader audience. The presentation highlights the importance of emotional branding and the impact of celebrity endorsements in a competitive telecom market.

1. By: MANIK GUPTA FOR PGDM

2. SO I MADE THIS PPT FOR MY PGDM CLASS PPT…BUT WHILE MAKING I FOUND SOME OF OF OUR FRNDDS DON’T GIVE IT FOR DOWNLOAD .. SO AS AN ADVOCATE FOR OPEN SOURCE AND TO HELP OTHERS. Coz those deadlines sometimes just very difficult to meet.. AM POSTING THIS… HVE GOT REFERENCES FROM PPT s on the slideshare and some other pdf material Do tell if it helped.. Gudluck!!

3. Airtel was born free, a force unleashed into the market with a relentless and unwavering determination to succeed. A spirit charged with energy, creativity and a team driven “to seize the day” with an ambition to become the most globally admired telecom service.

4. In the initial days due to high tariff rates cellular players had to impose high call charges on their customers and the handsets were costly. Naturally, they targeted the elite, up market professionals and entrepreneurs as customers . Airtelwas positioned as an aspirationaland lifestyle brand . It was pitched not merely as a mobile service, but as something that gave consumer a badge value. The Brand was developed to connote leadership in network, innovations, offerings and services. The taglines like "Airtelcelebrates the spirit of leadership" and "The first choice of the corporate leaders" emphasized that stance. The ‘Leadership’ campaign was reportedly successful and resulted in a marginal improvement in Airtel performance.

7. In early 2000 it was observed through market surveys that the concept of leadership was undergoing a transformation resulting in it being a moderate success. Hence Bharti decided to ‘humanize’ the brand ‘Airtel’ to gain competitive advantage. In august 2000 Bharti launched its new ‘Touch Tomorrow’ campaign which aimed at strengthening its relationship with its customers and make the brand ‘softer’ to cater a wide variety of people across the society. The Company adopted a three-tier brand architecture to expanded its ‘Touch Point’ network.

9. The focus now was on the endless possibilities of technology to make life good and advertising became two-pronged: a product-driven communication that showcased new offerings like the Magic prepaid card, and an emotional communication that showed younger people

12. Airtel logo is a strong,contempory, a confident symbol of a brand that is always ahead of the rest , always ‘In-touch’ and on customer’s side. It incorporates two solid, red rectangular forms whose counter-form creates an open doorway. The title case lettering with its capital ‘A’ reinforces our leadership position. The red dot cues in our focus on innovation.

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

15. The following year Airtel adopted the "Express yourself" positioning, which is also its current tagline. Now, the emotional angle was predominant - and stark, black and white imagery to stand out in what was becoming a highly commoditised, crowded market Express Yourself

16. Youth icons like Shahrukh khan and Sachin were brought in as brand ambassadors to attract youngsters

17. Taglines of brands

18. To justify taglines tv ad campaigns were launched

22. http://www.slideshare.net/gauravjain1985/airtel-presentation-brand-identity-presentation http://www.slideshare.net/eurocupter/brand-airtel-presentation Airtel.in

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