This report talks about the various marketing strategies of Telecommunication Companies. We has analysed the marketing strategies of the top three telecommunication companies Airtel, Vodafone and Idea.

1. ASSIGNMENT
OF
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
INDUSTRY SEGMENT: MOBILE OPERATORS
Submitted By
`
Amandeep Singh Gujral 401107006
Pranav Goyal 5014040
Sakshi Gaba 5014040
Gamneesh Kaur 501404040
Under the Guidance of
DR. K.S. GHUMAN

2. 2
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................................................................5
MARKET SIZE .......................................................................................................................................................................................5
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE...................................................................................................................................................................6
POSTER 5-P ANALYSIS............................................................................................................................................................................7
MAREKTING STRATEGIES.....................................................................................................................................................................8
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................................................8
AITREL ...............................................................................................................................................................................................8
VODAFONE .........................................................................................................................................................................................9
The 'Zoozoos' advertising campaign............................................................................................................................................9
IDEA ................................................................................................................................................................................................10
MARKET SEGMENTATION..................................................................................................................................................................11
AIRTEL .............................................................................................................................................................................................11
Psychographic Segmentation: ...................................................................................................................................................12
Behavioral segmentation: .........................................................................................................................................................12
VODAFONE .......................................................................................................................................................................................13
IDEA ................................................................................................................................................................................................13
PRICING STRATEGY ............................................................................................................................................................................14
EVOLUTION OF PRICING IN INDIAN TELECOM SECTOR...................................................................................................................................14
5 BASIC STRATEGIES ............................................................................................................................................................................15
POSITIONING.....................................................................................................................................................................................16
AIRTEL............................................................................................................................................................................................16
VODAFONE .......................................................................................................................................................................................16
IDEA................................................................................................................................................................................................16
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR......................................................................................................................................................................16
CULTURE & SUB CULTURE INFLUENCES....................................................................................................................................................16
Parental Control........................................................................................................................................................................16
Individualism vs. Collectivism ....................................................................................................................................................17
Masculinity Vs Feminity.............................................................................................................................................................17
Religion.....................................................................................................................................................................................17
SOCIAL INFLUENCES ............................................................................................................................................................................18
Group opinion ...........................................................................................................................................................................18
Prestige.....................................................................................................................................................................................18
Social Class................................................................................................................................................................................18
MARKETING INFLUENCES......................................................................................................................................................................18
Brand Image .............................................................................................................................................................................19
Word of Mouth .........................................................................................................................................................................19
Sales Promotion Offers..............................................................................................................................................................19
Advertising Campaign ...............................................................................................................................................................19
Innovation in Services................................................................................................................................................................19
Segment Quota .........................................................................................................................................................................20
PRODUCT...........................................................................................................................................................................................20
AIRTEL .............................................................................................................................................................................................20

3. 3
VODAFONE .......................................................................................................................................................................................21
Various plans (Prepaid) offered are: ..........................................................................................................................................21
Postpaid services are:................................................................................................................................................................22
Vodafone Business Solutions .....................................................................................................................................................22
IDEA................................................................................................................................................................................................22
PLACE.................................................................................................................................................................................................23
AIRTEL .............................................................................................................................................................................................23
TERITOTY MANAGER:................................................................................................................................................................23
Channel management in Airtel:.................................................................................................................................................24
Second Degree distribution network:.........................................................................................................................................24
Third degree distribution network: ............................................................................................................................................24
VODAFONE .......................................................................................................................................................................................25
Indirect channel (Tier 1) urban ..................................................................................................................................................25
Indirect channel (Tier 2) rural ....................................................................................................................................................26
Exclusive retail ..........................................................................................................................................................................26
REFRENCES.........................................................................................................................................................................................27

4. 4
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Poster analysis of Indian telecom sector.................................................................................................... 7
Table 2 Services provided by IDEA is shown under:........................................................................................... 14
Table 3 Five basic pricing strategies used in Indian telecom sector..................................................................... 15
Table 4 Vodafone distribution channel description.............................................................................................. 25
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Wireless market share in terms of total subscribers in India.................................................................... 5
Figure 2 Illustration showing top players of the industry....................................................................................... 6
Figure 3 Poster analysis diagram ............................................................................................................................ 7
Figure 4 zoozoos campaign graphic-1 .................................................................................................................... 9
Figure 5 zoozoos campaign graphic-2 .................................................................................................................... 9
Figure 6 Idea’s marketing campaign graphic-1 .................................................................................................... 10
Figure 7 Price Illustration ..................................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 8 Airtel your plan advertisement ............................................................................................................... 21
Figure 9 Vodafone Service ad-1 ........................................................................................................................... 21
Figure 10 Vodafone service ad-2.......................................................................................................................... 22
Figure 11 Idea 3G ad............................................................................................................................................. 22
Figure 12 Airtel Distribution Channel.................................................................................................................. 23
Figure 13 Work of territory manager.................................................................................................................... 24
Figure 14 Vodafone’s distribution channel-Urban ............................................................................................... 25
Figure 15 Vodafone’s distribution channel-Rural ................................................................................................ 26
Figure 16 Vodafone’s exclusive retail layout ....................................................................................................... 26

5. 5
INTRODUCTION
Telecom services have been acknowledged globally as an essential tool for the socio-economic
development of a nation. India is currently the world’s second-largest telecommunications market and has
registered exceptional growth in the past few years.
Telecommunications is one of the prime support services needed for rapid growth and modernization of
various sectors of the economy. Driven by strong adoption of data consumption on handheld devices, the total
mobile services market revenue in India will reach US$29.8 billion in2014 and is expected to touch US$37
billion in 2017, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.2 per cent, according to research firm
IDC.
The rapid strides in the telecom sector have been facilitated by liberal policies of the Government of
India that provides easy market access for telecom equipment and a fair regulatory framework for offering
telecom services at affordable prices. The deregulation of foreign direct investment (FDI) norms have made the
sector one of the fastest growing and a top five employment opportunity generator in the country.
MARKET SIZE
The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 933 million in March 2014 to 935.81
million (Wireless- 907.44 million, Wireline- 28.36 million) in April 2014, as per data released by the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The country’s GSM operators added 2.10 million rural users in June 2014 taking their total to 302.73
million, according to data released by Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI).
Bharti Airtel has the maximum rural users at 96.63 million as of June 2014, whereas Vodafone added
the maximum during the month of June to take its rural user base to 90.91 million. Idea Cellar’s rural subscriber
base stood at 76.85 million at the end of the month, whereas that of Aircel and Uninor stood at 25.96 million
and 12.38 million, respectively.
As of May 2014, the top three telcos - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular - have garnered market
shares of 28.41 per cent, 22.95 per cent and 18.79 per cent, taking their subscribers to over 208 million, 168
million and 137 million, respectively.
Figure 1 Wireless market share in terms of total subscribers in India

6. 6
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
 Demand is driven by technological innovation and by growth in business activity. The profitability of
individual companies depends on efficient operations and good marketing.
 Large companies have big economies of scale in providing a highly automated service to large numbers
of customers, and have the financial resources required building and maintaining a large network.
 Smaller companies can compete effectively only in small markets or by providing specialty services
Figure 2 Illustration showing top players of the industry

7. 7
POSTER 5-P ANALYSIS
Figure 3 Poster analysis diagram
Table 1 Poster analysis of Indian telecom sector
Threat from new entrants:
 Strict government regulations
 Extremely high infrastructure setup cost
 Difficulty in achieving economies of scale
Bargaining Power of Buyers:
 Low switching cost
 Cut throat competition
 Customer is price sensitive
 Number portability scheme
 Lack of differentiation among service
providers
Supplier Bargaining Power:
 Limited no of suppliers
 High switching cost
 Heavy regulations on bandwidth purchase
 Lack of control on price, quality, etc. due to
outsourcing.
Threat of Substitutes:
 Emerging instant messenger services
 Satellite phones
 E-Mails
 Video Conferencing like skype, hangout, etc.
Industry Rivalry:
 Customers’ low switching cost and price sensitivity are increasing competition among players
 High exit barriers are also intensifying competition
 There are around 6 to 7 players in each region, leading to intense competition
 Less time to gain advantage through innovation
Industry
riavlary
Barganing
power of
supplier
Threat of
substitutes
Barganing
power of
buyer
Threat of
new
entrants

8. 8
MAREKTING STRATEGIES
INTRODUCTION
In Indian telecom sector there are many mobile operators each with its own USP. To understand the
marketing strategies adopted by mobile operator we will focus on the marketing strategies of top three player
and see why they have more market share than their competitors.
AITREL
The advertising strategy used by Airtel is very
different from that of other players. Airtel focuses on
the very basic use of the mobile that is for
communication. Through its advertisements, Airtel
emphasizes on the importance of communication and
expressing feelings and emotions. This is reinforced by
its tagline which is ’Express Yourself’. Another
element clearly visible in the Airtel ads is the human
element. Airtel focuses on human relationships. Be it
that of a grandson and a grandfather or between a
husband and his wife. Airtel has thus used the basic
emotions of communication and expression as a
differentiator to connect deeper with the audience.
The message that comes across through Airtel
ads is that there is always a need to communicate with
your loved ones, need to be heard or make your point
and Airtel helps you do that in the most expressive
way, anywhere, anytime.
In the Initial stage Airtel’s positioning was
extremely innovative it created a unique music tune for
its brand by AR.Rahman which became the identity for
the brand, the music became the master piece for the
brand, the tune create a great impact around the
country. Impact for the tune is very huge
that anyone can tell that its Airtel tune, the TV
advertisement for the music tune also projected the
positioning of the brand “feel proud about the nation
Rural Market
Bharti Airtel has adopted the strategy of direct
communications to market its value proposition to
rural customers. To make its services accessible, the
company provides all of its marketing content in
local languages. Vans are used to cover rural areas
with staff who educate locals about mobile services
and usage.
The company has developed a shared phone
service called Public Call Offices (PCOs) in rural
regions to increase awareness about its brand and
services.
Bharti Airtel Service Centers have been set up
in villages to address customer queries and
complaints as well as act as sales and distribution
points. These centers employ local people and offer
sales and customer services using local dialects.
Bharti Airtel has already established over
18,000 service centers in rural India, covering over
400 languages and local dialects. The company plans
to expand this network.

9. 9
VODAFONE
The 'Zoozoos' advertising campaign
The campaign introduced new characters called
Zoozoos. To convey a specific value added services
VAS offered by the company, each ad used a story
which was enacted by the Zoozoos. The campaign
created the buzz both in the traditional media as well as
in social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter
and video sharing website, YouTube. While advertising
experts appreciated the creativity of the ad campaign,
they were apprehensive whether the popularity of the
campaign would actually help the company increase its
revenues.
Vodafone frequently uses local name
recognitions to reach and maintain trusts of its local
customers. Mary Kom, the famous boxer and
Olympian is its global brand ambassador. In addition,
in order to help promote its global appeal and to
communicate its brand value, the telecommunication
giant often uses famed sports stars like David
Beckham, Michael Schumacher and others.
It also advertises its brand value and offers
through billboards, TV commercials and other social
media outlets in order to reach a large number of
people. The most famous move by Vodafone
worldwide was the use of Vodafone zoo zoos in India
during the Indian premier league.
Vodafone has introduced various new beneficial
schemes/offers to attract the customers like various talk
time offers, validity offers, Bonus Cards, Tariff offers,
low cost handsets etc for the prepaid users and ISD,
STD, SMS, MMS offers, iPhones and Blackberry
handsets to the post-paid users (Vodafone, 2010). In
addition, the company.
Figure 5 zoozoos campaign graphic-2
Figure 4 zoozoos campaign graphic-1

10. 10
IDEA
Idea Cellar’s campaigns, based on social issues that
could be solved using mobile telephony, were
acclaimed for their creativity. The company used its
brand name 'Idea' in creative and meaningful ad
slogans like 'An Idea can change your life,' 'A good
Idea,' and 'What an Idea!' and concluded in its ads
making perfect sense. The ad campaigns like the
‘What an idea sirji’ campaign with Abhishek
Bachchan, its brand ambassador playing Sirji, tries to
bring to fore innovative ways to use the cellular
technology for the societal, environmental and human
good.
‘A Good Idea’ Campaign- Idea's promotions in 2006
were based on its tariffs, service quality, and network
coverage. For instance, Idea started promoting its
Rs.0.5 per local call per minute service aggressively.
One of its TVCs featured a bowler and an umpire in a
game of cricket.
The online initiatives- Idea took its 'What an !dea'
campaign further - from TV, print, and radio to the
Internet. It launched several websites that
complemented its campaigns that championed social
causes. In December 2008, Idea launched a website
called http://bythepeople.in to take forward its TVCs
based on democracy.
The ‘Out-Of-Home’ Campaigns- Idea had been using
OOH media like hoardings, public transport systems,
and bus shelters since the early 2000s. The company
used OOH media innovatively to reflect the message
of the ad. One of the most noticed campaigns of Idea's
OOH was the one used in the city of Surat in the state
of Gujarat.
Figure 6 Idea’s marketing campaign graphic-1

11. 11
MARKET SEGMENTATION
Segmentation can be defined as the process of dividing the market into customers with similar interests
into one segment.
AIRTEL
Due to diminishing marginal returns on its voice revenues, Airtel was forced to abandon its one size fits
all demographic segmentation. It came up with a strategy where it classified users into different segments.
Airtel segmented its customer market on following basis
Geographical Segmentation:
The market is divided into groups based on demographic attributes such as
localities, regions, cities, density etc. Airtel segments the market on the basis of
states, as they have different plans for different states. The different geographic
regions are handled independently and different campaigns are run according to the
tastes and preferences of people in each region.
Demographic Segmentation:
The market is divided into groups based on demographic attributes such as
localities, regions, cities, density etc. Airtel segments the market on the basis of
states, as they have different plans for different states. The different geographic
regions are handled independently and different campaigns are run according to the
tastes and preferences of people in each region.
 Age and lifecycle: Recognizing that senior citizens have the need to keep in touch with their children and
relatives who may be located far away, Airtel came up with a senior plan which offered a discount on
one STD number and one local number. Besides, subscribers of this plan would get special discounts for
health check-ups and would have facility to club bills with that of their children.
 Gender: The Company has also launched special packages to target the women. Airtel had started the
Ladies Special plan targeted at women and allowed subscriber to receive special beauty and lifestyle
tips, apart from subscriptions to cosmopolitan and housekeeping magazines. The plan also offers women
the option to club the monthly bills with that of their spouses.
 Income: Airtel also segmented the market on the basis of income through their corporate plans. They had
started the corporate scheme on the basis of the higher usage rate and higher income persons.
 Generation: Airtel had started ‘Friends’ pre-paid connection, SMS plans and VAS like hello tunes,
which was targeted towards the 15-25 year age. This includes phone-to phone (P2P) recharge facility,
enabling the consumer to transfer talk time and validity to any Airtel prepaid subscriber. In addition

12. 12
comes the introduction of ‘Hot Spot’ tariffs where Airtel Friends customers can enjoy tariff discounts at
pre-designated places within the city.
Psychographic Segmentation:
In this segmentation, marketers segment the market on the basis of motivation,
values, belief, lifestyle, personality etc.
 Lifestyle: Airtel focused its attention on two groups in particular.
o The first group was known as "funsters" -- consumers aged between 18-35 years old, who share a
common trait -- a high adoption of VAS. Airtel believes that with some targeted marketing,
spending from this group can increase quite significantly. The Telco has exclusive tie-ups with
application providers like Google and has identified music-on-demand as a key value
proposition.
o The other segment of focus is the "achievers", who are the top five percent of mobile users.
While this segment isn't a high adopter of VAS, it contributes to revenues nearly 10 times that of
Airtel's ARPU.
o To enhance customer experience for this segment, Airtel has separate priority relationship
managers. It also partnered with HTC and Blackberry to offer high end handsets catering
specifically for those customers who want to be in touch with their peers or their subordinates,
colleagues etc.
 Personality: Airtel last year had also started life Time Validity scheme for the persons who are not
financially strong and can’t afford the normal schemes.
Behavioral segmentation:
Organizations also divide the market on the basis of behavior that the customer shows towards the usage
of products. Various variables for segmenting market on the basis of purchase behavior of customers are
occasions, benefits, user status, user rate, loyalty etc.
 Occasions: Airtel on the occasion of Independence Day introduced a recharge coupon of Rs.1947 with
two years validity for its Delhi and NCR prepaid customers.
 Benefits: Airtel also provides various tangible and intangible benefits for its customers. Like Airtel
launched various tangible benefits like validity schemes for its customers and intangible benefits like
roaming, voice mail, fax mail, close user group etc.
 Usage rate: Airtel very often comes up with schemes like Get the talk time of 1111 on the recharge on
1000 i.e. getting more talk time value for which customers are paying.

13. 13
VODAFONE
Vodafone is seen as much focused in segmentation in India. Vodafone as segmented Indian Market as
geographical segment where rural part of India is at much attention because of the huge potential market for
telecom.
Secondly, it has focused on the demographical segment where the middle and low income group falls.
Both the segment comprises the major population of the country.
Vodafone has also segmented the customer in terms of psychographic (students, professionals etc.) and
behavioral aspects (high users and low users) and have provided the services as per the needs of the market and
customers.
IDEA
Idea Cellular currently segments its customer profile into 2 basic groups:
 Prepaid Customers and
 Postpaid Customer
Prepaid Customers are generally the personal use customer group i.e. non institutional. This segment
accounted for around 80% of the customer base (2008 figures) and the remaining 20% was accounted for by the
postpaid customer base.
The customer base is also segmented into groups according to the monthly revenue generated:
1) VIP customers: These are the customers who form the VIP group as the name suggests and comprises of
MPs, MLAs, industrialists and other high profile customers. These are given high attention in services as they
are key to implementation of services across their regions.
2) Corporate Customers: These are the customers having more than five connections to their name and generate
revenues in excess of Rs. 10000 a month. These are usually institutionally driven connections and are post-paid
customers. Service quality in terms of Value Added Services provided including preferential customer service
treatment is provided to retain these high value accounts
3) Platinum Customers: These are the customers whose current monthly expenditure on Idea Cellular Services
is in excess of Rs.1500 per month. The revenue generated from these accounts includes Voice, Data and VAS
services. Around 60% of these are from the post-paid group while the remaining 40% are from the pre-paid
group. Institutional Customers account for around 70% of the post-paid base while the remaining are the
personal usage customers.

14. 14
4) Gold Customers: These are the customers providing revenues to the company betweenRs.1000 and Rs.1400
a month. The pre-paid base is again smaller in this segment accounting for nearly 35% of the customers. A
healthy split is found between personal and institutional usage customers.
5) Silver Customers: This customer group provides revenues in the range of Rs.750 toRs.999 to Idea Cellular
each month. Pre-paid user group is in the range of around 55% while institutional sales account for around 80%
of the post-paid group.
6) Medium Volume users: These are the customers generating between Rs.220 to Rs.750each month. Prepaid
customers form around 65% of the group while this group accounts for approximately 30% of the whole
customer base of Idea Cellular
7) Low Volume customers are the customers generating revenues less than Rs.250 per month
Table 2 Services provided by IDEA is shown under:
Customer segmentation DESCRIPTION:
METROPOLITIAN
AREA
DESCRIPTION:
URBAN AREA
DESCRIPTION:
RURAL AREA
PRODUCTS Pre-paid , postpaid
mobile services
Pre-paid , postpaid
mobile services
Pre-paid , postpaid
mobile services
SERVICES GPRS, voice and SMS
based services, call
forwarding, call
conferencing, national &
international roaming,
vehicle tracking,
automatic meter reading
GPRS enabled
information services
like internet browsing,
data cards and mobile
e mail, ring back
tones, horoscopes,
expert advise
Krishi voucher, health
care services.
CHANNELS Direct outlets Both direct and
indirect
Indirect
UNIQUE
COMPETENCIES
6 sigma, net setter data
cards, blackberry
solutions, largest
customer base, strong
distribution channels
6Sigma, high quality
network structure,
centralization of
several applications.
Usage of solar power
BTS, Frequency
optimization technique.
PRICING STRATEGY
EVOLUTION OF PRICING IN INDIAN TELECOM SECTOR
Indian service providers’ pricing evolved over three phases. The first phase was an introduction phase, from
1995 to 2000. The incoming and outgoing calls were priced around Rs 14/minute, which made the service a
luxury, attracting significant snob appeal. Eventually the outgoing call prices dropped to Rs 9/ minute and
incoming to Re 1/minute (towards the end of this phase), attracting a greater segment of the population.

15. 15
Thereafter, in the Growth phase which lasted from 2000-2005, the outgoing call rates dropped to Rs 2/minute
while the incoming calls became free of charge. Many new players entered the market during this period, such
as Reliance, which set new benchmarks for pricing. Following an aggressive strategy to attract a huge customer
base, Reliance forced other operators to change their plans according to its offerings.
Interestingly, what followed is the maturity phase where Tata Docomo used the 1p/second billing to gain entry
into the crowded market. Tata Docomo’s strategy is reminiscent of Reliance’s pricing strategy from the growth
phase. The other operators reluctantly followed suit and added per-second billing plans to their existing product
portfolio. This is one of the reasons for the crowding seen in Airtel’s postpaid plans, among others, as it
continues to offer per-minute billing options also.
5 BASIC STRATEGIES
Table 3 Five basic pricing strategies used in Indian telecom sector
STRATEGIES Representative practices
BUNDLING Bundling of voice, SMS and data
PERFORMANCE PREMIUM Differentiating different maximum speed
Differentiating network used(LTE)
Differentiating QoS
TRAFFIC DIFFERENTIATION Bundling with content
Packages for access to specific apps
Premium for access to VoIP services
USAGE PATTREN CUSTOMISATION Volume discount
Time based charging
ACCESS PLATFORM PRICING Pricing by device type
Multi-SIM pricing
Mobile Operators are still experimenting on how best to
build value propositions around data. Various survey has
revealed great variations in the way mobile operators sell,
bundle, measure and charge mobile data. Yet at least five
broad mechanisms for price differentiation can be identified
in the mobile data pricing strategies of most surveyed
operators. The table below summarizes these five
‘strategies’ with some representative pricing practices for
each of them.
Figure 7 Price Illustration

16. 16
POSITIONING
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
There are different factors that can affect the purchasing decisions of the telecom users in rural, semi
urban and urban areas that includes their demographic factors, their psychological, social and cultural and
marketing factors
CULTURE & SUB CULTURE INFLUENCES
Parental Control
The Respondents of rural, semi urban and urban areas are asked if they have chosen their service
provider as per their wish or under parents influence, then more than 80% of the respondents chose their service
provider as per their wish which shows very less parental control in all areas.
AIRTEL
The product is supposed to be a
business efficiency tool. A lifestyle
revolution and a status symbol. It’sa
daytodayusecommodityandisnomore
asymbolofstatus.
Leading telecom operator Bharti
Airtel is adopting a new positioning
in its advertising and brand
communications. For years, its ad
campaigns have been focused
around Airtel being the network
that connects people. With the
market evolving from voice-driven
offerings to data-led services, brand
Airtel is extending its positioning
to become the “most preferred”
network for smart phone users.
Airtel adopts smart positioning
with new campaign, cleaner brand
look.
VODAFONE
Vodafone is one of the biggest
names in wireless technology, and
is continuing to grow a solid, loyal
customer base because the
company offers excellent product
along with excellent customer
service.
The company continues to offer a
variety of services, including data,
messaging, voice and broadband.
It's continuous advancement in the
data services, they offer by
developing its 3G networks and the
capabilities of various handsets. It's
a mobile service that’s easy to use,
with low-cost telephone line and
even DSL broadband connection. It
also provides you monthly billing
cycle, pre-paid agreement or even a
contract. And is known for its best
customer services.
IDEA
Idea’s strategy has been to build on
its strong brand equity and
significant presence in rural and
semi-urban areas. Today, it is the
third largest GSM mobile operator
in the country with 92 million
users. It follows Bharti airtel (164
million) and Vodafone Essar (137
million) and is followed by Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Limited (92
million, including wireline) and
Aircel (56 million). In April 2011,
Idea had the highest net mobile
user addition at 2.45 million. The
company’s performance so far has
been commendable. In terms of
revenue market share, it is ranked
first in four circles and second in
three of the country’s 22 telecom
circles.

17. 17
Individualism vs. Collectivism
In Urban area, 57% of the respondents agree where as 49% strongly agree that they need the service
provider that leads to maximum interaction, in Semi urban areas, 74% of the respondents strongly agree that
they need maximum interaction where as in rural areas, 100% of the respondents strongly agree that they will
choose the service provider which leads them for maximum interaction with their near ones. This shows that the
level of collectivism is very high in the rural areas than in urban and semi urban areas.
Masculinity Vs Feminity
Sex as a cultural factor effects the purchasing behavior of the customers. In Comparison to rural, semi
urban and urban area, the females of rural are more dependent on their family/spouse. The females above the
age of 42 are also influenced by their children. They are not so educated but still they are aware about the
services the providers are offering. The reason behind that is the media that has reached in every lane and home
of the rural area too. They are more budget conscious and so they use prepaid services. The females in rural
areas are also involved in self-employment. The services often used by them are local and STD calling where as
in urban areas female respondents also use internet and SMS services. The female respondents in the Semi
urban and urban area are maximum working and so are less dependent on their family. They are educated
enough to take their own decisions. They are aware about the competition among the service providers and so
consider different factors while choosing their service provider. They highly believe in collectivism and try to
increase their interaction. 100% of female respondents are using internet services apart from calling and SMS
Services where as in rural areas 94% of the respondents are using internet services.
As compared to female respondents the male respondents are less dependent but they consider their
family and friend’s opinion, interaction level, group opinion while choosing the service provider. The male
respondents of urban areas are well qualified or are studying as compared to the respondents of rural areas.
They are using mobiles not only for calling or for their business or professional reasons but also for fun sake.
There are hardly any differences between the rural, semi urban and urban users in case of male respondents
except that the rural users are more budget conscious than urban and semi urban users. They consider call tariff
as the most important factor while choosing a service provider and they are more prone to change their provider
in case of better services offered by other providers. This makes the competition very tough in the market.
Religion
Religion as a sub cultural factor does not affect the purchasing behavior of the customers in rural, semi
urban and urban areas. More than 95% of the respondents disagree to consider religion as a factor while
choosing their service providers.

18. 18
SOCIAL INFLUENCES
There are many social factors that influence the purchasing behavior of the consumers that includes their
Family, reference group and Social Class.
Family and Friends
54% of the urban respondents agree where as 46% of the respondents strongly agree that they consider
family and friends as an important factor while choosing their service provider. They consider the provider that
provide them with best family plan or add on options to have economical contact between the families. In case
of semi urban users 51% agree and 49% strongly agree where as in case of rural areas 77% strongly agree for
considering Family as an important factor. This social factor leads to maximum social interaction between the
individuals.
Group opinion
As group opinion is concerned 63% of the urban respondents agree and 37% strongly agree, in case of
Semi Urban 69% of the respondents strongly agree and in case of rural users 60% strongly agree. The semi
urban and rural users prefer to walk in group than individual. For them group opinion is the best method to
choose the service provider.
Prestige
Talking about the Prestige factor, 71% of the urban users strongly agree that they consider having a
mobile with the services of reputed service provider is prestigious and they want to keep that. In case of semi
urban and rural area this percentage is less with 60% and 54% respectively. In case of rural area, 6% disagree
and 6% are neutral while considering prestige as a factor. So the urban respondents are more influenced by the
prestige factor than in case of rural and semi urban area.
Social Class
Social Class as a social factor effects the purchasing behavior of the consumers, their colleagues and
their seniors, their role in the society, status all affect the purchasing behavior of the consumers. When asked
about the respondents of urban, semi urban and rural areas, 57% of the respondents of the urban respondents
agree while 43% strongly agree that they consider social class as an important factor. In regard to Semi Urban
and rural users, 69% of the semi urban users strongly agree 60% of the rural users strongly agree that they
consider social class as an important factor. They consider their status, their role in the society, their social
circle as an important factor.
MARKETING INFLUENCES
There are many marketing factors that affect the purchasing behavior and decisions of a consumer:

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Brand Image
54% of the urban respondents agree where as 46% strongly agree that they consider brand image as an
important factor while choosing their service provider. But in the case of semi urban area 40% agree, 54%
strongly agree and 6% disagree for considering brand image as an important factor. In case of rural area, 66%
strongly agree, 31% agree where as 3% disagree while considering brand image as an important factor.
Word of Mouth
Word of mouth is an important media for publicity. We are very much influenced from the place we live
in, where we work, our role and status in the society and so the persons we live with also effects our decision.
Their views and opinions are generally considered for the buying process. 42% of urban respondents agree,
46% strongly agree, 6% disagree and 6% are neutral whose decisions are effected by the word of mouth
medium. In case of Semi urban and rural consumers, 77% of the semi urban users strongly agree and 66% of the
rural users strongly agree while considering word of mouth as an important factor to consider.
Sales Promotion Offers
Sales promotion offers is also an important marketing tool used by the service providers to compete in
the market. 77% of the urban users agree, 86% of the Semi urban users strongly agree where as 100% of the
rural consumers strongly agree that they consider sales promotion offers while choosing their service providers.
These sales promotion offers can be in the form of discounted calls, extra services provided by the Service
providers that effect the buying decision of the consumers. Apart from sales promotion offers, the consumers
are also interested in the different applications and services offered by the providers.
Advertising Campaign
Advertising works as an influential factor for most of the respondents in different areas. In urban, semi
urban and rural areas 69%, 57% and 74% agree that advertising effects their buying behavior. As the users of
different areas are maximum awared through the advertising medium that includes newspaper, TV, radio,
hoardings, insertions etc. the consumers get knowledge of all the providers through these medium and can
compare before choosing their provider. So advertising is an important marketing tool that effects the
consumer’s behavior.
Innovation in Services
51% of the respondents of urban area, 60% of the semi urban users and 66% of the rural users strongly
agree that the innovation in services effect their decisions. While the users of the rural area are not so much
educated but they are aware about the technology the providers are providing and so they want to get the best
and updated technology and services. The users use the mobiles not only for calling purpose and they don’t treat
this only as communication medium but entertainment medium also. So they always look for new and latest
services.

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Segment Quota
Specials tariffs and plans for different groups are also an important marketing tool that the users
consider. 51% of the urban users, 77% of the semi urban users and 71% of the rural users strongly agree that
they consider this if any provider is offering them special services under segment quota.
CONCLUSION
From the study it can be concluded that the Social, Cultural and Marketing factors have a great influence
on the buying behavior of the users of rural, semi urban and urban area. The advancement in technology has
narrowed the difference between the awareness and usage of mobile services in different areas. Rural, Semi
Urban and urban area has become the same market. The entry of the service providers has made the competition
tough in the market and so the marketers must be aware of the factors that affect the buying behavior of the
consumers. We live in Society and so the social factors affect our decisions that include Family, friends,
Relatives, seniors, Colleagues, role and status in the society. Cultural factors and marketing factors are also
considered while choosing the services of a service provider.
PRODUCT
AIRTEL
Bharti Airtel Limited (Bharti Airtel) is one of India’s most popular providers of integrated
telecommunication services and is based in India and headquartered in New Delhi. The mobile services
comprise of fixed wireless services and mobile services which use GSM network technology across major
telecommunication circles in the country.
Products in the marketing mix of Airtel
The company provides a wide array of products and services. In order to retain the maximum number of
customers, Airtel has tried to provide as many products and services as possible in order to keep the customers.
The following is a list of its products:
 Airtel Pre-paid services
 Blackberry Wireless Handheld
 Airtel Post-paid services
 Value added services like instant balance inquiry, caller line identification, 24 hour recharge facility,
multimedia messaging service, call wait & call Hold, Caller divert, Airtel Live portal
 SMS based information services
 Voice mail services
 Hello tunes, Ring tones,
 Ringtones and hello tunes offers

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 Easy post-pay bill payment solutions
 Enterprise Solutions
Figure 8 Airtel your plan advertisement
VODAFONE
To cope up with the challenges of Indian market and targeting the number one spot in the industry
Vodafone has been catering to the needs of every section of the country. This can be understood through the
different tariffs, Value added services and talk plans offered to different customers.
Various plans (Prepaid) offered are:
1. Talk time offers
 Full Talk time Recharge(For those who look for value for money)
 Bonus Cards with talk time benefits(for those who change the talk plans frequently)
 Chhota recharge(For low end user, mainly rural)
2. Validity Offers
 Lifelong prepaid
3. Bonus Cards
 SMS pack(For those who love texting)
 Mobile internet pack(Connect to internet anywhere)
 Conversations @ 1p/second (For small talks)
 Call anyone anywhere @ 50p/minute(For people who call a
lot to other circles)
Figure 9 Vodafone Service ad-1

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 Talk all night @ 10p/minute to Vodafone(For lovers)
 SMS @ 10p(For those who text often)
 Night Minutes(For those who talk freely at night)
4. Tariff offers
 Vodafone Campus pack(For Students)
 Vodafone Gappagoshti(For elder people who like to chat)
 Vodafone friends circle(For young people who love to be in touch with friends)
Postpaid services are:
1. Talk plans for everyone
2. Bill in your Inbox
3. My Vodafone
Vodafone Business Solutions
Some services are specially designed for high end business
customers who help them keep track of their businesses in a much
better and easier way. Some Business Services are:
1. Vodafone Mail(For businessmen who travel a lot)
2. Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G(Anytime Easy high-speed
internet connectivity)
3. Essential Downloads(Basic Application Software for utilizing
all the services)
Apart from these specific prepaid, postpaid and business services,
there are various other Value Added Services like Vodafone Live,
Caller Tune, Ring tone download, Wallpaper download, Cricket and
Business updates etc. All these services cater to different segments of
the market. The services are being updated and the talk plans are
revised from time to time to cater to the needs of different segments and
avoid churn.
IDEA
Idea Cellular is an Aditya Birla Group Company, India's first
Figure 10 Vodafone service ad-2
Figure 11 Idea 3G ad

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truly multinational corporation. It offers a range of high-speed mobile broadband devices including Android
based 3G smartphones, dongles etc. Idea’s wide portfolio of 3G smartphones offer, the latest is 3G applications
and high-end data services such as Idea TV, games, social networking etc. at affordable prices.
Idea is a pan-India integrated GSM operator offering 2G and 3G services, Idea’s robust pan-India
coverage is built on a network of over 100,000 2G and 3G cell sites, spread across over 55,000 towns in India.
PLACE
AIRTEL
Airtel have wide and effectively spread structure all over the world. The channel structure is simple and
effective. Complications are kept out in order to make over all process very effective and efficient.
Figure 12 Airtel Distribution Channel
TERITOTY MANAGER:
The distributors include one who handles
1.) Provisioning
2.) Documents
3.) Operations back up
4.) Field sales executive

24. 24
Figure 13 Work of territory manager
Channel management in Airtel:
Since Airtel has an intensive distribution network, proper channel management becomes an
indispensable part of system. One of the major issues encountered in the channel management is channel
conflict. Channel conflict is behavior by a channel member that is an opposition to its channel counterparts. It is
opponent centered and direct, in which the goal or object sought is controlled by the counterpart.
Channel conflicts, that mainly result from competing goals of the channel members, different perceptions
of reality, clashes over domains i.e intra ans multi-channel competition, roles unclearity, expectations
divergence, relationship disharmony etc. to avoid conflicts, Airtel has adopted a second and Third degree
Distribution network.
Second Degree distribution network:
Company makes invoice of SIMs, PEFS GSM Pay Phones, RCVs of various denominations chiefly
Rs.10, Rs.30 and Rs.60 to only Urban Distributers and Rural Super Distributers. Easy balance is also transferred
to only Urban Distributers and Rural Distributors (RS). Urban distributors distribute the above items to retailers
according to the demand and transfer easy balance to retailer through FOS (Field Sales Officer) SIM. This is
more suitable for the urban market where demand is obscurely driven.
Third degree distribution network:
RS distributes the above items to rural distributors commonly known as RDs and transfers easy balance
into Rural Distributor then distribute the above items among the retailer according to the demand of it and
transfer easy balance to retailer through FOS SIM from easy balance of Distributor SIM. This three level

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distribution is used to reach to sub urban and rural areas since there is lesser popular density and large
geographical spread that has to be catered to.
VODAFONE
Table 4 Vodafone distribution channel description
Indirect
Channel
Exclusive
Retail
Direct
Channels
Modern
Trade
B2B
Business
• 2 tiered
distribution
model
• For mass
market
reach
• Focused on
prepaid
Exclusive
• Sales and
service
• Primary focus
on
postpaid,
terminals and
data.
Selling directly to
end customer
• Focused on
postpaid
Large format
outlets
/ chain stores
• Future growth
driver
for Data & 3G
• Enterprise
• Includes fixed
line and data.
Indirect channel (Tier 1) urban
Figure 14 Vodafone’s distribution channel-Urban

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Indirect channel (Tier 2) rural
Figure 15 Vodafone’s distribution channel-Rural
The 2-Tiered distribution sales and service model focuses to increase presence and
relevance
• Associate distributors appointed to cater to rural population, responsible for 4 to 7 cell-sites in
designated area
• Associate distributor also responsible for providing services
Exclusive retail
Figure 16 Vodafone’s exclusive retail layout

27. 27
REFRENCES
 Vodafone.com
 Airtel.com
 Idea.com
 Influence of Cultural, Social and Marketing Factors on the Buying Behavior of Telecom Users: A
Comparative Study of Rural, Semi-Urban and Urban Areas in and Around ChandigarhJournal of
Marketing Management, March 2014
 Ibef.org-telecommunication reports
 Slideshare.com