Sales and Distribution Management

BRAND BUILDING STRETEGY OF AIRTEL A brand is a name or trademark connected with a product or producer. Brands have become increasingly important components of culture and the economy, now being described as â€Å"cultural accessories and personal philosophies†. Brand strategy is much more than visual identity. While a beautiful logo, catchy color scheme, and clever tagline are all elements of a brand strategy, they are merely supporting elements. Behind Nike's â€Å"Swoosh† and AIRTEL's â€Å"AIRTEL† are all the elements of a brand strategy, the activities the companies engaged in to give target buyers a reason to buy their product or service and not a competitor's. While the visual identity may elicit a response, it does not cause the response—the elements of brand strategy do. Elements of Brand Strategy To build a powerful brand, companies need to have all the elements of brand strategy in place. There are many elements of brand strategy. †¢ Brand strategy includes targeting †¢ Positioning is an element of brand strategy Product or service configuration and pricing †¢ Marketing communications (e. g. , advertising and direct marketing) †¢ Media allocation, an important part of brand strategy †¢ Customer service is included in brand strategy What’s in a Brand? Sometimes it’s easier to understand what something is by first understanding what it is not. A brand is not a name. It’s not a logo. It’s not a product, service or business. Others have described it as a promise, an expectation and, ultimately, an experience that a person—a customer, patient, guest, visitor, physician, or employee—has with your product or service. Mission, vision, values, strategic plan, and brand strategy: Where do they connect? Most organizations’ brands are inspired by their mission, vision and values statements. The organization’s strategic plan will drive the long-term vision for what the organization will do, and the brand strategy should help the organization define why and how they will accomplish those goals. The real differentiator comes when you discover what makes your brand unique, giving it a market advantage. Consider Nike. The brand is not the â€Å"swoosh. † That’s a logo. The brand is not â€Å"Just do it. † That’s a slogan. Their brand strategy—what makes them number one in sports apparel—is an attitude: Give the consumer the freedom to just do the sport. So, when the Nike strategic (business) plan called for a diversification strategy into athletic equipment, such as golf balls, the brand strategy guided Nike to understand why that strategy was appropriate and how it had the potential to strengthen the brand AIRTEL: It's All About the Brand |Bharti Airtel  [pic] | |Telecom giant Bharti Airtel is the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises. The Bharti Group has a diverse business portfolio and has | |created global brands in the telecommunication sector. Bharti has recently forayed into retail business as Bharti Retail Pvt. Ltd. | |under a MoU with Wal-Mart for the cash & carry business. It has successfully launched an international venture with EL Rothschild | |Group to export fresh agri products exclusively to markets in Europe and USA and has launched Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd | |under a joint venture with AXA, world leader in financial protection and wealth management. |Airtel comes to you from Bharti Airtel Limited, India’s largest integrated and the first private telecom services provider with a | |footprint in all the 23 telecom circles. Bharti Airtel since its inception has been at the forefront of technology and has steered | |the course of the telecom sector in the country with its world class products and services. The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been| |structured into three individual strategic business units (SBU’s) – Mobile Services, Airtel Telemedia Services & Enterprise Services. |The mobile business provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles while the Airtel | |Telemedia Services business offers broadband & telephone services in 95 cities and has recently launched India's best Direct-to-Home | |(DTH) service, Airtel digital TV. The Enterprise services provide end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national & | |international long distance services to carriers. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand. | The Name – 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 â€Å"to seize the day† with an ambition to become the most globally admired telecom service. Airtel, in just ten years of operations, rose to the pinnacle to achievement and continues to lead. As India's leading telecommunications company Airtel brand has played the role as a major catalyst in India's reforms, contributing to its economic resurgence. Today we touch peoples lives with our Mobile services, Telemedia services, to connecting India's leading 1000+ corporate. We also connect Indians living in USA, UK and Canada with our call home service. | |Our Vision & promise   | | | | | |By 2010 Airtel will be the most admired brand in India: | |Loved by more customers | |Targeted by top talent | |Benchmarked by more businesses | |â€Å"We at Airtel always think in fresh and innovative ways about the needs of our customers and how we want them to feel. We deliver what | |we promise and go out of our way to delight the customer with a little bit more† | The Logo – The Airtel logo is a specially drawn woodmark. 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. Thered dot cues in our focus on innovation. Our logo is a reflection of our identity – a confident symbol of a brandthat is always ahead of the rest , always ‘In-touch’ and on customer’s side. . The airtel logo is a strong, contemporary and confident symbol for a brand that is always ahed of the rest. The image style –it incorporates two solid ,red rectangular forms whose counter form creats an open doorway. Te airtel typo graphical style – the title case lettering with its capital â€Å"A† was deliberatiely choose to reinforce the brands leadership position. The red dot on the letter form â€Å"I† cues airtel’s focus on innovation. the words express yourself are very much part of the brand identity. The airtels color palette – the lettering is grey so that the pure black of airtel is visually on harmed The Slogan – â€Å"Nigahhein nigahon ko milakar to dekho, Naye logo se rista bana kar to dekho†¦Ã¢â‚¬  With this the focus have shifted to vibrating the innermost core of a viewer’s heart. The ad is made up of five snippets, each one displaying the importance of reaching out the others. In this Ad, there is the range of situations/relationships covered, from two little girls in the first one to an aged couple in the next one to the young lovers and then to student-teacher pair. Best part about the AD is that it never shows anyone using a cell phone!! This is definitely one of the best Ads of recent times. It certainly makes you believe in the line- â€Å"Aasman simat jaayega tumhara aaghosh mein, chahat ki baahen phalli kart ho dekho†. AIRTELS's Branding Strategy Brand Architecture: Bharti is working on a complex three-layered branding architecture — to: †¢Create specific brands for each service, Build sub-brands within each of these services and †¢Use Bharti as the mother brand providing the group its corporate identity as well as defining its goal to become a national builder of telecoms infrastructure. †¢ This is also called umbrella bra nding by Airtel Also the brand airyel follows co- branding in which it is being tied up with nokia, google and also i-phone 3g to cater the need of its increasing customer’s efficientely. †¢ nokia, ———[pic] †¢ google ——–[pic] †¢ i-phone——-[pic] †¢ Integrated Telecom Company 1. Wireless Services a. 2G/3G b. Rural Market 2. Telemedia Services a. Fixed Line b. Broadband c. DTH 3. Enterprise Services †¢ Carrier †¢ Corporate 4. Passive Infrastructure †¢ Bharti Infratel †¢ Indus Tower AIRTEL (Cellular Operations) BHARTI TOUCHTEL (Basic Service Operations) INDIA ONE (National Long Distance) AirTel – The flagship brand for cellular operations all across the country. Touchtel – The brand earmarked for basic service operations. India One – The brand for national long distance (NLD) telephony Though the costs of creating new brands are heavy but the group wants to create â€Å"distinct independent brands toAddress different customers and profiles†. SEGMENTATION- On the bais of gepography –divided Indian market in telecom circles –subdivided states into category –A,B and C TARGETING- †¢ Earlier elite class above age group of 25 years †¢ Corporate people ad bsiness man Again targeted youth by introducing â€Å"YOUTOPIA† plan †¢ Targeted women and senior citizens by introducing postpaid plans POSITIONING- â€Å"we position airtel as a aspirational and life style brand , in way that trivalised the price in the mind of the consumer . it was pitched not merely as a mobile service , but as something that gave him a badge value†. By Henmant sachdev. CMO â€Å"power to keep in touch ‘ year 1995-98 Significance-The tag line â€Å"power to keep in touch† used in the brand promise was designed to make the user feel â€Å"in control†¦ powerful† positioned premium category aimed at elite ckass of society perception of aspirational and ife style brand. REASON FOR CHANGE- now cellular service operators could drop their prces ad target new customer segments . as the category developed with pricess going down sharply , airtel bean talking to wider spectrum of potential users. this gives he birth to the new tag line Bharti is working on a complex three-layered branding architecture — to: †¢ Create specific brands for each service, †¢ Build sub-brands within each of these services and Use Bharti as the mother brand providing the group its corporate identity as well as defining its goal to become a national builder of telecoms infrastructure REPOSITIONING-(TOUCH TOMORROW) YEAR1999-2001 SIGNIFICANCE Airtel started talking to new segments by positively positioning and establishing itself as a brand that improved the quality of life. -New look and feel of the brand tagline indicated the core values of the brand i. e. leadership, performance and dynamism. REASON FOR CHANGE -Airtel started to look from a regional level to pla n India position -rediffusion DY, which is the ad agency that took charge of revamping Airtel’s brand image thought. To become an Indian leader, Airtel needs to change in it’s tagline. FURTHER REPOSITIONING-LIVE EVERY MOMENT YEAR2002-2003 SIGNIFICANCE -This was the first time A R Rehman had agreed to work for any brand, anywhere in the world. The music from the commercial became the most downloaded ringtone it the history of telecommunications. Tagline denots that each and every person in India live every moment(emotions, feelings etc. ) of the life with Airtel. REASONS FOR CHANGE -Rediffusion DY, which is the ad agency that took charge of revamping Airtel’s brand image again changed the tagline to give better tagline to Airtel which catches some emotional appeal. FURTHER REPOSITIONING-EXPRESS YOURSELF Year2003-2008 SIGNIFICANCE -‘Express yourself’ was successfully launched taking the ownership of the entire space of communication and strengthening the emotional bond Airtel enjoys with it’s customers. -The masterminds behind the ‘express yourself’ campaign are the joint vice-presidents:Mr. Prasant Godbole and Zarwan Patel. Airtel is a market leader in the cellular network and they wanted to very fresh and contemporary idea to build a brand image which their customers could identify. BRAND AMBASSADORS OF AIRTEL SHAHRUKH KHAN——–[pic] SACHIN TENDULKAR—–[pic] A R REHMAN—————[pic] SAIF AND KAREENA——-[pic] VIDYA BALAN AND MADHAVAN– [pic][pic] To understand the brand strategy, let’s first look at the brand building exercise associated with AirTel — a brand that had to be repositioned recently to address new needs in the market. When the brand was launched seven years ago, cellular telephony wasn’t a mass market by any means. For the average consumer, owning a cellular phone was expensive as tariff rates (at Rs 8 a minute) as well as instrument prices were steep — sometimes as much as buying a second-hand car. Bharti could have addressed the customer by rationally explaining to him the economic advantage of using a mobile phone. But Sachdev says that such a strategy would not have worked for the simple reason that the value from using the phone at the time was not commensurate with the cost. â€Å"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,† he explains. So the AirTel â€Å"leadership series† campaign was launched showing successful men with their laptops and in their deluxe cars using the mobile phone. In simple terms, it meant Airtel was positione aspirational brand that was meant for leaders, for customers who stood out in a crowd. Did it work? Repeated surveys following the launch showed that there were three core benefits that were clearly associated with the brand — leadership, dynamism and performance. These were valuable qualities, but they only took AirTel far enough to establish its presence in the market. As tariffs started dropping, it became necessary for AirTel to appeal to a wider audience. And the various brand-tracking exercises showed that despite all these good things, there was no emotional dimension to the brand — it was perceived as cold, distant and efficient. Sachdev and his team realized that in a business in which customer relationships were the core this could be a major weakness. The reason? With tariffs identical to competitor Reliance Infocomm. and roughly the same level of service and schemes, it had now become important for Bharti to â€Å"humanize† AirTel and use that relationship as a major differentiation. The brand had become something like Lufthansa — cold and efficient. What they needed was to become Singapore Airlines, efficient but also human. A change in tack was important because this was a time when the cellular market was changing. The leadership series was okay when you were wooing the creme de la creme of society. Once you reached them you had to expand the market so there was need to address to new customers. By that time, Bharti was already the leading cellular subscriber in Delhi with a base of 3. 77 lakh (it now has 1. 2 million customers). And with tariffs becoming more affordable — as cell companies started cutting prices — it was time to expand the market. How could Bharti leverage this leadership position down the value chain? Surveys showed that the concept of leadership in the customer’s minds was also changing. Leadership did not mean directing subordinates to execute orders but to work along with a team to achieve common objectives — it was, again, a relationship game that needed to be reflected in the AirTel brand. Also, a survey showed that 50 per cent of the new customers choose a mobile phone brand mostly through word-of-mouth endorsements from friends, family or colleagues. Thus, existing customers were an important tool for market expansion and Bharti now focused on building closer relationships with them. That is precisely what the brand tried to achieve through its new positioning under the AirTel â€Å"Touch Tomorrow† brand campaign. This set of campaigns portrayed mobile users surrounded by caring family members. Says Sachdev: â€Å"The new campaign and positioning was designed to highlight the relationship angle and make the brand softer and more sensitive. † As it looks to expand its cellular services nationwide —to eight new circles apart from the seven in which it already operates — Bharti is now realizing that there are new compulsions to rework the AirTel brand, and a new exercise is being launched to this effect. Right now, the company is unwilling to discuss the new positioning in detail. But broadly, the focus is on positioning AirTel as a power brand with numerous regional sub-brands reflecting customer needs in various parts of the country. If AirTel is becoming more humane and more sensitive as a brand, Bharti has also understood that one common brand for all cellular operations might not always work in urban markets that are now getting increasingly saturated. To bring in new customers, the company decided that it needed to segment the market. One such experiment, launched last year, is Youtopia, a brand aimed at the youth in the 14 to 19 age bracket and for those who are â€Å"young at heart†. With its earlier positioning, AirTel was perceived as a brand for the well-heeled older customer; there was nothing for younger people. With Youtopia, AirTel hoped to reverse that. In order to deliver the concept, AirTel offered rock bottom tariff rates (25 paise for 30 seconds) at night to Youtopia customers — a time when they make the maximum number of calls. It also set up merchandising exercises around the scheme — like a special portal for young people to buy things or bid for goods. The company is now looking at offering other services at affordable prices to this segment which include music downloads on the mobile and bundling SMS rates with normal calls to make it cheaper for young people to use. The other experiment that Bharti has worked on is to go in for product segmentation through the Tango brand name. The brand was created to offer mobile users Internet-interface services or what is known as WAP (Wireless Application Protocol). The idea was to bring Internet and mobile in perfect harmony. The name was chosen from the popular movie title It Takes Two To Tango: basically, you need the two services to tango to offer customers a new choice†, says Sachdev. This, however, had less to do with the branding exercise as with inefficiency of service (accusingly slow download speeds) and the limited utility of WAP services. Subsequently, the ads were withdrawn, but the company re-iterated that the branding exercise could be revived because Tango will be the brand to offer GPRS services — or permanent Internet connectivity on the mobile phone — which AirTel is expected to launch soon. The Magic: Perhaps the more ambitious experiment has been with Magic — the pre-paid card. The idea was to make the brand affordable, accessible and, most importantly, feasible as a means of expanding the market even faster. PHASE I – Magic was aimed at bringing in infrequent users of a mobile phone into the market and assure him that he would have to pay only if he made a call. Such a customer used the phone sparingly — mostly for emergencies — and was not willing to pick up a normal mobile connection with its relatively high rentals (pre-paid cards do not include rental charges). To achieve its objectives Bharti did three things. .One, the product was made available at prices ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 3,000 with no strings attached and was simple to operate. Two, the product was made accessible and distributed through small stores, telephone booths and even kirana shops so that the offering was well within arms reach †¢Third, to make the product more â€Å"approachable† to the customer, the company came with vernacular ad campaigns like à ¢â‚¬Å"Magic Daalo Se Hello† which appealed to local sensibilities. This apart, the company roped in Karisma Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan for a major ad campaign all across Delhi, a ruse that saw the number of subscribers go up from 5. 47 lakh to 12 lakh today, overtaking Essar’s branded pre-paid card Speed, which was launched much ahead of Magic. The company is now re-working its Magic strategy even further. Earlier, the branding strategy was aimed at roping in only interested customers — that is, customers who were already inclined to opt for mobile services. But now, with basic service providers having been allowed limited mobility at far cheaper rates, mobile service providers could find themselves under threat again. That is why the new exercise is aimed at co-opting non-adopters. While the exact strategy is under wraps, insiders say the new branding strategy would be aimed at offering them value which they had not perceived would be available from using a pre-paid card. PHASE II – Bharti used AirTel Magic to build a strong value proposition and accelerate market expansion through India’s first national pre-paid card TV brand campaign ? First time ever in India – any pre-paid card brand goes on TV A combination of the film genre exposed through the TV medium designed to connect with the masses of India ? Youth based – romance driven strategy platform makes the value proposition of AirTel Magic – ‘Mumkin Hai’ come alive ? All elements – user imagery, context, tone & language created to connect the category to the lives of the SEC B & SEC C segment – the middle class non-mobile user. ? AirTel Magic positions itself on the platform of being excellent for emergency situations – increasing productivity as a part of everyday life. ? Sharukh Khan makes ‘everything in life possible’ while romancing pretty Kareena Kapoor with AirTel Magic, India’s leading pre-paid mobile card. AirTel today unveiled its strategy for market expansion with the launch of its new AirTel Magic pre-paid card brand campaign – ‘Magic hai to Mumkin hai’. The strategy is targeted at the non-user segment defined as young adults, 15-30 years of age; in the Sec B & C segment is aimed at accelerating market expansion. The value proposition is centered around a person’s desire to make all his / her dreams, ambitions & aspirations instantly possible. The new campaign for AirTel Magic is all about empowering millions of Indians to be on top of their lives. The brand is positioned to be relevant to the mass-market who want to make all their dreams, hopes & desires come alive†¦ instantly. (At just Rs. 00/- per month AirTel Magic is so easy to buy. ) Improving productivity, letting you befriend the world and opening up new horizons. It gives you the freedom to control your life in a way never possible before. Indeed, anything that you think is possible is possib le with AirTel Magic. The new brand slogan ‘Magic hai to Mumkin hai’ has been specially created to capture this effectively. This strategy is designed to help us talk to this segment directly in the tone, manner & language of the masses. The â€Å"Mumkin hai value proposition will help us expand the market and gain a higher percentage of market shares in the process. The brand ambassadors Shahrukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor embody this ‘can do’ or â€Å"Mumkin Hai† spirit (infact that is the reason they were selected as brand ambassadors). Sharukh rose from a TV actor to become India’s top film star and national heartthrob. Kareena’s success is due to her ‘attitude’, talent, hard work and the sheer ability to make a mark in such a short time. Both these stars have said ‘Mumkin hai’ and made it happen for themselves. The genre of this new strategy & campaign is Hindi cinema led. This genre connects millions across India. The spirit of romance, dancing†¦ the Indian cinema, well known to most as Bollywood, holds millions of Indians together as one. The new TV campaign of AirTel Magic crafted in the Hindi film idiom, magnifies the empowering optimism of â€Å"Mumkin Hai†, in the endearing situation of a boy-girl romance. Where Sharukh Khan, sets his eyes on Kareena Kapoor and wins her love with the help of AirTel Magic. (Poignantly conveying that special feeling we all get when a dream is made possible and a victory of the heart is won). The strategy & new brand campaign is targeted at the large untapped base of intending mobile customers from Sec A, B & C. The estimated addressable market of such customers in the next two years is around 25 million in AirTel’s 16 states. The new strategy aims at correcting the perception that the mobile category is useful mainly for ‘business’ or ‘work’ related scenarios. The new strategy, brand positioning & brand slogan is an outcome of an extensive nationwide research and is an integral part of AirTel Magic’s new multi-media campaign. The campaign has been created by Percept Advertising. PHASE-III – Bharti used AirTel Magic to build a strong value proposition and accelerate market expansion through India’s first national pre-paid card TV brand campaign †¢ First time ever in India – any pre-paid card brand gives such freedom to recharge any value †¢ A combination of the film genre exposed through the TV medium designed to connect with the masses of India †¢ Youth based – romance driven strategy platform makes the value proposition of AirTel Magic – ‘Aisi azaadi aur kahan? † come alive Sharukh Khan makes ‘everything in life possible’ AirTel today unveiled its strategy for market expansion with the launch of it’s new AirTel Magic pre-paid card brand campaign †“ ‘Magic hai to Mumkin hai’. . The value proposition is centered around a person’s desire to make all his / her dreams, ambitions & aspirations instantly possible. The new campaign for AirTel Magic is all about empowering millions of Indians to be on top of their lives. The brand is positioned to be relevant to the mass-market who want to make all their dreams, hopes & desires come alive†¦ instantly . At a amount of your choice you can recharge your account with available validity time . Improving productivity, letting you befriend the world and opening up new horizons. It gives you the freedom to control your life in a way never possible before. Indeed, anything that you think is possible is possible with AirTel Magic. The new brand slogan ‘Aisi azadi aur kahanhas been specially created to capture this effectively. Other Brand Building Initiatives to create loyalty:- The main idea is to stay ahead of competition for at least six months. Working on the above game plan Bharti is constantly coming up with newer product offerings for the customers. The focus, of course, is to offer better quality of service. To make the service simpler for customers using roaming facilities, Airtel has devised common numbers for subscribers across the country for services like customer care, food services and cinema amongst others. †¢ It will also launch a unified billing system across circles so, customers moving from one place to another do not have to close and then again open new accounts at another place. †¢ To assist customer care personnel to deal with subscriber queries, a storehouse of 40,000 frequently asked questions and their answers have been stored on the computers. †¢ Bharti expects that most of its new customers (one estimate is that it would be 60 to 70 per cent of the total new subscriber base) would come from the pre-paid card segment. So, they must be given value-added products and services which competitors don’t provide. †¢ Bharti, for the first time for a cellular operator, has decided to offer roaming services even to its pre-paid customers, but the facility would be limited to the region in which they buy the card. To ensure that customers don’t migrate to other competing services (which is known as churn and ranges from 10 to 15 per cent of the customer base every month), the company is also working on a loyalty program. This will offer subscribers tangible cash benefits depending upon their usage of the phone. The loyalty program will not be only for a ‘badge value’, it will provide real benefits to customers. The idea is to create an Airtel community. †¢ Another key area which Bharti is concentrating its attention upon is a new roaming service launched in Delhi under which calls of a roaming subscriber who is visiting the city will be routed directly to his mobile inste ad of traveling via his home network. †¢ The company also offers multi-media messaging systems under which customers having a specialized phone with a in- built camera can take pictures and e-mail it to friends or store it in the phone. The cost per picture is between Rs 5 to Rs 7. Bharti is also aware that it has to make owning a ready-to-use cellular service much easier than it is today. A key area is to increase the number of activation centers. Earlier Bharti had 250 Airtel Connect stores which were exclusive outlets (for its services) and about 250 Airtel Points which were kiosks in larger shops. Now activation can be done by all of them, and not only by Connect outlets, all within 15 to 20 minutes. In comparison, the competition takes two to four hours. †¢ Pre- paid cards are really catching up with the mobile phone users and it is actually helping the market to increase. First, they are easier to obtain and convenient to use. Unlike post- paid, one need not pay security deposits for picking up a pre- paid card. It is often available even with paanwalas. As befits a fast-moving consumer service, the game is now moving beyond price to expanding distribution reach and servicing a well-spread-out clientele with technology and strategic alliances. Bharti is focusing on two factors to make pre-paid cards more attractive. Keeping the entry cost low for consumers and making recharging more convenience. †¢ Bharti is in the process of launching a new system in alliance with Mumbai-based company Venture Infotech which will enable a pre-paid card user to renew his subscription by just swiping a card. The system will not only save users the hassle of going out and buying a card every time it expires but also enable mobile companies to reduce the cost of printing and distributing cards. †¢ Bharti Televentures has tied up with ‘Waiter on wheels,' a company delivering food at home, to reach its Magic pre-paid cards to subscribers' doorsteps. The company is also joining hands with local grocery shops which will enable users to recharge their cards by just making a phone call to the shop. †¢ Apart from improving the convenience of recharging, mobile operators are beefing up their distribution channels. The company is constantly innovating to enhance the value proposition for its pre-paid service. They are leveraging technology to expand their distribution network and deliver round-the-clock recharge options to its MOTS (Mobile On the Spot) subscribers. Bharti Cellular has also launched a special service, CareTouch, for high-value, corporate customers, providing them with instant, single-point access for any assistance they require. Customers can dial 777 and enjoy a slew of services, which includes easier payment of bills, service on priority basis, and value-added services without any additional paper work. Bharti Cellular is offering a range of services without going through an interactive voice recorder ensuring that they save time. Dedicated ‘CareTouch’ executives are expected to assist customers with any service on priority basis. Besides the regular proactive reminder calls for bill payment, customers can also call CareTouch for bill payments at free of cost. †¢AirTel presented MTV Inbox; the first ‘on-air’ SMS based interactive music dedication show exclusively for AirTel and AirTel Magic customers. Highly interactive VJ based show with real-time feedback mechanism. Both brands joined hands to target the high growth youth segment. BRAND RECALL- for brand recall airtel used so many promotional strategies as celebraty endorsement ? also goes for promotional activites like hoardings, billboards,sponser many events ? along with this amny corporate social activity being carried out by airtel ? signature tune as given by A. R Rehman being the most successf ul tool of Airtel in creating brand recall; Bharti’s View on its Branding strategy:- First, brand building efforts in today’s context have to be seen in a more holistic manner. Delivering value on a sustained basis is perhaps the most potent key to build a brand that lasts. Unflinching orientation to customer needs is the second key success factor. Customers (be it for industrial products or consumer goods and services) across the world are more informed and, at the same time, becoming more individualistic in their needs and far more demanding with the passage of time. Pro-active tracking of shifts in consumer behavior, anticipating redefined or emerging customer needs, and then reacting in â€Å"real- time† are essential to attract and retain customer loyalty — a key element of creating brand equity in the present situation. Customizing the product (and communication of its benefit) to meet the specific needs of various consumer/customer sub-segments is the third element in creating brand appreciation. As far as allocation of time and financial resources are concerned, too many companies mistakenly allocate a disproportionate amount on mere advertising and promotion. This is not to say that advertising and promotion are less relevant. On the contrary, with more choices and higher media clutter, businesses need to budget for an increasingly higher spend on their brand promotion but this has to be undertaken in tandem with enterprise-wide â€Å"reengineering† of the business philosophy and core design, production, and delivery operations for the product itself. The positive spin to this argument is that by first addressing the fundamentals, the enterprise itself becomes more competitive. This can be the beginning of a virtuous cycle wherein brand equity continues to increase as the enterprise sustains delivery of an appropriate product or service at an ever increasing value. It is, however, crucial to note that in the years to come, not only will the cost of building a regional or a national (or an international) brand will continue to rise but also the time taken to do so will be longer and will need sustained and focused efforts. Brand value:- â€Å"The brand Airtel is our most valuable asset after our people. We have built it with a lot of passion,† says Bharti Airtel CEO and Joint Managing Director Manoj Kohli. Airtel is all about trust, innovation and ownership bundled with an emotional connection. I can think of very few brands in the whole world which straddle so many categories and talk to so many different economic groups. † Tata, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and Airtel have been identified as the top three most valuable brands in India by 4PsBusiness  and Marketing magazine in its annual ranking released here Friday. And according to icmr survey Airtel is regarded as the second trusted and valued service provided brand after LIC. Brand personality: AIRTEL- |Airtel: Leadership, power†¦ feelings? | |Airtel has a branding strategy that focuses on the emotions and lifestyle of consumers. The Airtel’s brand personality is about lifestyle; | |innovation; passion; hopes, dreams and aspirations; and power-to-the-people through technology. The Airtel brand personality is it is also| |customer centric and a elite class product and most reliable on the basis of is good network service and customer centric approach and | |shows its leadership — be it in network, innovations, offerings or services | |   | |â€Å"In a service industry like telecom, people live a brand 24X7. It’s all about experience; and for Airtel ‘brand=customer experience’,† says| |Rajan Mittal, joint managing director, Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd. |   | |That’s now, but when mobile telephony began in India a decade ago, the brand was all about aspiration. That’s understandable: a handset | |cost about Rs 45,000 — the price of a second-hand Fiat — and call charges hovered around Rs 16 a minute. | |   | |Naturally, the personality of the brand airtel is ike | |: elite class and innovative product/service provider | |Used by professionals | |successful entrepreneurs. |Leader | | | | | |â€Å"We positioned Airtel as an aspirational and lifestyle brand, in a way that trivialised the price in the mind of the consumer. It was | |pitched not merely as a mobile service, but as something that gave him a badge value,† recalls Hemant Sachdev, chief marketing officer | |(mobility) and director, Bharti Tele-Ventures. | |   | |   | |The way to the future, though, seems to be through product innovations such as easy charge (recharging prepaid connection through SMS), | |hello tunes, the Blackberry option, stock tickers and M-cheques (mobile credit cards). |   | | | BRAND ASSOSIATION- The Airtel brand positioned it as a customer centric and a elite class product and most reliable on the basis of is good network service and customer centric approach and shows its leadership — be it in network, innovati ons, offerings or services Airtel associates it self with the customers both on functional and emotional values.. these can be jotted down as follows †¢ elite class and innovative product/service provider †¢ it shows the personality of a leader †¢ reliable network and customized service †¢ innovative product †¢ leading the market †¢ trusted and beneficial BRAND loyalty- |Bharti airtel Offers so manY programs to create brand loyalty which is the basic success of airtel .. some schemes such as | |Bharati Airtel offers two points on every Rs 100 on the member’s monthly billing or recharge. | |   | |The company is also considering bringing credit cards, loans and liabilities services under this program. | |   | | | †¢ PRE-PAID users of Airtel can look forward to some free talk time each time they recharge their card. The company is going to launch a new customer loyalty programme across the country for the pre-paid customers called Recharge Reward. †¢ This loyalty programme, which is supposed to be the first of its kind for pre-paid users, would be based on the number as well as the value of recharges the customers opt for. †¢ Speaking to  Business Line, Mr Ramesh K. Narain, Chief Officer – Sales & Marketing, Bharti Mobinet Ltd, said the company for the first time is specially focusing on the pre-paid segment. â€Å"We are looking at pre-paid as a recruitment category and through this loyalty programme we hope to not only increase our customer-base but also in the long run convert them into post-paid users. † Conclusion