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This Report Is a Collaborative Effort Of:

Iqra Khan (MB-08-12)

Sidra Ghazanfar (MB-08-16)
Zoya Chaudhry (MB-08-06)
Kokab Khalid (MB-08-20)
Mudassir Khalid (MB-08-61)
Faizan (MB-08-33)
Muzammil Hanan (MB-08-48)

REPORT SUBMISSION

With Due Respect We the Group Members Submit This

Marketing Report to Our Instructor of Marketing Management
Madam Bushra Baig

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface
Company Profile
Vision & Mission Statement of Ufone
Marketing Department
Business Portfolio

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 PREFACE

This report reviews the marketing of Ufone, the second largest

telecom company in Pakistan. We give a brief history of the
company and tell about the achievements and growths of
Ufone. It put light on the whole organization specifically its
marketing department and the activities ongoing in its
marketing department. These activities include two of its
major components i.e. Sales Promotion and Advertising. These
two are the main topics of this report which we have discussed
in the depths of the company’s strategies and functioning.
Further we review Ufone’s strengths, weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats (SWOT Analysis). In the end we
give the future plans of Ufone and conclude with our views and
suggestions for Ufone.

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 COMPANY PROFILE

BRIEF HISTORY OF UFONE

PTML is a subsidiary of PTCL (Pakistan Telecom Company Limited), the largest

operator in Pakistan.PTML was established to operate cellular telephony. The
company commenced its operations, under the brand name of Ufone from Islamabad
on January 29’ 2001.Since Etisalat took over PTCL in 2006, during the year as a
consequence of PTCL’s privatization, 26% of its shares were acquired by Emirates
Telecommunication Corporation (Etisalat). Being part of PTCL, the management of
Ufone has also been handed over to Etisalat.
In September 2006, Ufone selected Huawei to deploy the
nationwide GSM network at a contract value of above USD550 million. Ufone
adopted Huawei's new-generation GSM solution, including All-IP core network and
BTS, to construct a GSM network covering 1,500 cities and towns of Pakistan.

MISSION OF UFONE

Our mission is to provide best

“

services with best coverage that

would eventually generate profit for
the company and its stakeholders”

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UFONE’s ACHIEVEMENTS

►During 2006 Ufone successfully completed the network expansion of Phase 4 in

existing as well as in new cities and towns which amounted to more than US Dollar
170 million. As a result the asset base of the Company has increased from Rs. 20
billion to Rs. 27 billion.
►Ufone adopted the policy of simplified tariffs with no hidden charges, which
resulted in positive impacts on total subscriber base, which has increased from
2,579k in June 2005 to 7,487k in June 2006.
►Ufone currently caters for international roaming to more than 195 live operators
across 119 countries and introduced International roaming facility for Prepaid
subscribers in Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Singapore,
Portugal and Kuwait with lowest rates, featuring no security deposit and activation
charges. GPRS roaming facility is available with more than 75 Live Operators across
59 countries.
►The Company has also been awarded a new License for providing cellular services in
Azad Jammu & Kashmir and the Northern Areas.

OPERATING PERFORMANCE
Ufone’s operational performance has been very encouraging. Despite the stiff
competition in Pakistan telecom market which has led to reduction of prices to bare
minimum level, due to its aggressive policies and exercising strict control over
expenses the Company managed to improve its revenue and after-tax profit by 87%
and 54% respectively, as compared to last year.

GROWTH RATE

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As mobile users in the country have reached over 28 million at a very rapid pace,
Ufone has maintained itself as the 2nd largest cellular operator in Pakistan with a
subscriber base of around 6.5 million and a market share of nearly 25%. Ufone has
seen a subscriber growth rate of over 200% in the last year, and since the start of
2005 Ufone added nearly 5 million subscribers onto its network. A remarkable
achievement indeed, especially considering the fact that two new international
players also entered into the market in 2005. Subsequently the growth in subscriber
base caused a healthy trend in revenues which have doubled.

TECHNOLOGY

After Mobilink, Ufone is the second cellular service provider company that is based
on GSM technology. Basically they are using GSM 900 technology with version 2001.
Apart from this they are very strong in technological developments especially they
have a well-established research and development department that is working on new
technological developments in their products. Like they are the first company in
Pakistan that is offering GPRS facility to their subscribers

STRUCTURE OF THE ORGANIZATION

In Ufone the hierarchy is very lean, in general the whole setup is centralized, all the
matters are to be reported to the main company and all the policies and targets are
approved at the higher level. But at the department level the structure is
decentralized.

► UFONE has following functional departments:-

 Technical
 Customer operations
 Finance
 Administration & Procurement
 Human Resource

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  Co-ordination (Govt. relations)
 Marketing

►Current CEO (Chief Executive Officer) & President of UFONE is Mr.Mubashir

Naqvi

►Ufone’s Head Offices is in Islamabad

MARKETING DEPARTMENT

Marketing department handles all the marketing activities concerning all Ufone
packages and brands. A recent marketing survey conducted by a prominent
marketing research company showed that Ufone has considerably increased its
brand visibility and image through its vibrant marketing strategies.

►Marketing department’s hierarchy is as follows:-

(Head
Office : CMO
Islamabad)
HEAD OF
DEPARTMENT
S///
(Head
Office :
ASSISTANT
Islamabad)
MANAGERS

SENIOR (Reg
ional) EXECUTIVES

MANAGEMEN
T TRAINEES (Reg
ional)

INTERNEES

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 (Regional)

(Regional)

►Sub Departments of Marketing Department:-

 Brand Activation
 Value Added Services
 International Roaming
 Media Planning (Marketing Strategies)
 Marketing Finance
 Marketing Operations

►Current CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of Ufone is Mr. Arshad Yaqoob Khan

BUSINESS PORTFOLIO

BRANDS:

BRANDS TARGET MARKET REASON FOR TARGETTING

PostPay Corporate class High usage for business & working people
Life Youth Night dwellers

PACKAGES:

PACKAGES TARGET MARKET REASON FOR TARGETTING

Public Demand Lower class/Rural youth High usage
UWON Lower/socio economic class High usage
5 ka 15 Ladies Ladies’ intention of 5 min chat
usually exceeds to 15 min or more
Walkie talkie Working class/ business class Call conferencing

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 SERVICES
Both Post-Paid and Pre-Paid Ufone subscribers can enjoy any/all Ufone services
including GPRS based services (MMS, Ufone Internet, Pocket Stocks), Global SMS,
etc
Ufone is proving these all services to its consumers:-
• Internal Excess
• Online Billing Payment
• Power SIM
• WAP
• International Roaming
• Voice Mail
• Call Management
• Messaging

MOBILE PRODUCTS
Ufone is offering the following Mobile Products:-
 Utalk
 Missed Call Notification
 Phonebook Saver
 Trivia Quiz
 Ushare
 Uloan
 Voice Bucket
 Utunes
 Awaz SMS
 Uchat
 Ugames

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  Call Block
 Self Service Kiosk
 U kisaan
 U health
 Ufone prize bond
 Ubazar
 Hajj Guide

MARKETING STRATEGIES

► MARKET SEGMENTATION
Cellular service market is a diverse set of people. Ufone as well as other cellular
service companies segment their market on four bases: - economy, age, gender &
occupation.
I. ECONOMY : Upper class, Middle class, socio-economic class, lower class
II. AGE : Teenagers, youngsters, middle age, aged people
III. GENDER : Male & Female
IV. OCCUPATION : corporate class, Business class, working class etc

► TARGET MARKETS
Cellular phones are the technology of new era, the 21st century. These cellular
phones are the main focus of our youngsters. All the cellular companies are targeting
The Youth one way or other. Ufone is no longer a follower in this race. Its main
focus is “THE YOUTH” of Pakistan which is its Target Market.

Target marketing strategy

Ufone has always been targeting Youth Market by using young brand endorsers or
ambassadors. It always brings such packages and offers that precisely meet the
needs of our young people. No doubt it has also launched packages, brands and
offers for working people, business class, ladies and aged ones. Ufone seeks to
target masses in the long run.

► POSITIONING
Positioning is the process of creating an image of company’s brand in the mind of
market. Companies position themselves emotionally, functionally or on the basis of
brand quality. Ufone is still a market challenger in comparison to market leader

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MOBILINK. It is still to reach to the top most position of cellular companies. So
Ufone positions itself on the basis of its services.

Ufone’s former Positioning Statement:

“Everybody Loves to Ufone Prepay “

Ufone’s new Positioning Statement:

“Ufone tum hi toh ho! “
Or
“It’s All About U”

Ufone’s positioning strategy:

Ufone changed the image of mobile phones from a luxury only affordable by the
elite, to a necessity affordable by the common man. Since its inception, Ufone has
positioned its brand for “MASSES” on the basis of services it is providing and its
lowest call rates. It makes them believe that it satisfies the needs of everyone (viz
all classes, age & genders). It tells them that Ufone is there when anybody needs it.
The brand name UFONE itself is a positioning statement.

► DIFFERENTIATION
In these days of intense competition marketers find it hard to differentiate their
services from those of competitors. Now customer care about only price. An
unsatisfied customer will immediately go for brand switching. Thus leaving a
customer unsatisfied and not meeting his/her demands is out of question for
marketers.

Differentiation Strategy :
Ufone has always strategized in satisfying the demands of its customers. In doing so
it has been successful in differentiating itself in terms of:-
 Price
 Quality service
 Technology

► CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

With 28 million mobile users in Pakistan, Ufone is having a subscriber base of around
7 million. Ufone is showing a remarkable growth rate. It is maintaining a healthy
customer relationship through its “customer service centers” and “call centers”. Its

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department of “Customer Operations” is specially designed for maintaining Customer
Relationships.

Customer Relationship Strategy:

Ufone strategize to build and maintain strong customer relationships in order to
build long-term customer loyalty and to capture customer lifetime value. In this
context Ufone has been training its internees and permanent employees in the fine
art of interacting with customers. It is also strategizing to offer gifts & rewards
for its long-term customers in its PostPay to match the wonderful customer
relationship strategy of INDIGO.

► TOTAL MARKET ORIENTATION

Total Market Orientation is about understanding and meeting customer’s expressed
and latent needs.

Strategy :
Ufone has always considered the ever growing needs of low call rates and quality
service. It has provided its customers their needed packages and has introduced
such brands & packages that meet customer’s latent needs as well. For example 5 ka
15 is result of a latent need of women of our society. They plan to make a short call
but it becomes a long one unintentionally due to gossips and chit chats 

► COMPETITORS

There is a hard core competition among the cellular service providers in Pakistan.
Ufone is a market challenger in its competitive position, where MOBILINK is the
market leader. Warid, Telenor and newly introduced ZONG are also strong
contenders in market challenger category. Ufone has the following four direct
competitors:-

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Ufone also considers the following as its competitors:-
 ZONG (former PAKTEL)
 PTCL WIRELESS
 Wateen
 WorldCall

Competitive strategy:
Ufone’s competitive strategies are Customer intimacy and Differentiation. Ufone
aims at fore passing Mobilink in its competitive race.

► MARKETING MIX

1 - PRODUCT/SERVICES
Ufone is a service providing company. Service is any intangible product that consists
of activities, benefits or satisfactions offered for sale.

Strategy:
Ufone makes strategies to provide a better cellular telephonic service which excels
its competitors at all levels. When Ufone launches a new package in a market, it
actually makes it a complete package of core benefit, design, features, brand name,
quality, and after sale service.

2 - PRICE

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Cellular service providers are facing intense price competition in contemporary
market. Customers perceive pricing as the heart of brand selection. Price has always
been the core differentiation of Ufone. Ufone is the one who is offering least call
rates off-network.

Strategy :
Ufone strategize to capture the existing pricing needs of its customers and use it
well on occasional or timely basis. For example Ufone offered very good call rates on
international calls in Eid days. It offered hourly call rates in Ramadan when people
were least likely to avail the offer that much that it might prove unprofitable for
Ufone. It was a fantastic strategy to beautify the brand image in term of pricing in
customer’s minds as well as remain profitable in doing so. Ufone follows market
penetration pricing strategy and dynamic pricing strategy to meet the customer
needs and ever changing price competition.

3 – PLACE
Place plays a very important part in the distribution and promotion of services.
Competitors of Ufone are seeking to penetrate into places where others haven’t
reached. Cellular service providers are drastically widening their network & coverage
in every area of Pakistan. Mobilink has this edge in place excellence because it is the
pioneer in cellular telephonic field.

Strategy :
Ufone strategize to widen its coverage to all places in Pakistan in order to meet the
requirements of its increasing customer base. Now Ufone is heading from cities to
remote northern areas in expanding its network. Ufone has intensive promotion in
cities, but it is also considering improving its promotion in rural areas as well.

4 - PROMOTION

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Ufone believes in Integrated Marketing Communication which is a carefully blended
mix of promotion tools. Ufone employ different marketing activities and channels to
communicate and deliver value to customer. These activities are coordinated to
provide maximum communication output. These communication channels includes:-
Advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing & personal selling.
Ufone strategize to carry out promotion in order to increase its market share.

Strategy :
 Advertising (discussed later)
 Sales Promotion (discussed later)
 Public Relations : Ufone is less conscious of developing its general public
relations. But recently it has launched its “Hajj Guide” service on Ufone. It
avoids getting in news stories and controversies but sometimes it proves
inevitable.
 Direct Marketing : Ufone employ on-road umbrella franchises where the
directly market and sell their connections and Sims.
 Personal Selling : Ufone administer personal selling facility to sell their
PostPay connections targeting well to do people and businessmen
› It won’t be an exaggeration to say that Ufone has placed itself where it is now
through brilliant promotions.

REPORT TOPIC : SALES PROMOTION & ADVERTISING

“SALES PROMOTION”
“Sales promotions are short term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a
product or service”
Ufone utilizes sales promotion activities to boost its sales. It
follows all four of the promotion budgeting methods viz affordable method,
percentage of sales method, competitive parity method and objective & task
method.
Ufone uses following sales promotion tools
Contests:
Ufone carried out contest for cricket talent hunt in the year 200_______. Our
renowned Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar was used as patron for this contest.
However this contest didn’t do much good to Ufone’s image or sales. But Ufone holds
future plans to carry out such activities in more effective and profitable ways.
Games:

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Ufone is currently running its game show on ATV prime time. This game show
rewards the winning participants. Ufone updates its customers every now and then
to participate in this game show. The problem we see in this activity is that Ufone is
not properly advertising it.
Premiums:
All the cellular services are now offering premiums for their customers. This
premium is offered, when a customer don’t use his/her sim for more than 3-6
months, in the form of extra credit balance delivered to their numbers for free
Free tickets:
Ufone recently offered free trip to Dubai. It was Ufone’s first Eid offer. Every
time you make any international call of 5 minutes or longer than 5 minutes, you enter
the lucky draw to win a return ticket to Dubai. The more calls you make, more is your
chance to win.

Promotional Products:
“Phone bhi Ufone bhi”. It was a promotional offer By Ufone where it offered a
mobile phone, free air time, Ufone connection and Rs.100 airtime all for Rs.999.And
now Ufone also offers Blackberry mobile sets with PostPay connection.

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Another recent promotional offer by Ufone is that with your HBL Credit Card; get a
free handset of your choice, a Ufone PostPay connection and airtime. Existing as well
as new HBL Credit Card customers may avail this offer.

SALES PROMOTION STRATEGY:

Ufone strategize to take aid of sales promotion whenever it sees a minor drop in its
usage by its customers. They mostly go for pull strategy in promotion i.e. they spend
a lot on advertising and consumer promotion to induce final customers to avail their
services. Ufone applies sales promotion schemes continually in order to keep its
customers loyal and happy.

ADVERTISING (& DEVELOPING AD COMPAIGNS)

“Any paid form of non personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or
services by an identified sponsor”

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 ADVERTISING OBJECTIVES:

Ufone use advertisements when…

 It has to inform the customers about new or available services
 It seeks to persuade people to purchase their service or switch to their
connection from any other connection

ADVERTISING BUDGET

Ufone is a heavy spender on advertising in electronic media as well as other media.

Recently Ufone invested a huge amount on mass advertising. It was definitely a risk
to take such decision. They are developing and playing new advertisements on
electronic media not even with a month’s gap or so.
A single Ufone advertisement played 15-20 times per day on a TV channel
costs millions varying with the time of day when it is played. Ufone spends 20% of
its profit on advertising and sales promotion.

ADVERTISING STRATEGIES

Advertising strategy consists of two major elements: Advertising Message &

Advertising Media. Ufone has the following strategies regarding the Message and
Media of advertising:-

ADVERTISING MESSAGE:
Message Content --»The very first content of Ufone’s advertising message was
humor, and then in its blooming stage it shifted its message content to youthful
excitement. Recently Ufone has again adopted humorous theme for its message
content. This time Ufone is winning the hearts of people through humor and it has
increased RPI of Ufone. Ufone has already generated much revenue through it.

Message Format --»The format of Ufone’s advertisements has always been very
colorful and eye catching. The shocking Orange & Green colours used by Ufone have
always attracted people. These colors look beautiful on wall printing of Ufone.

Message Source --»The very first Ufone advertisements had Faisal Qureshi as its
message source. Afterwards Ufone hired non-celebrity young models for its
youthful message theme. Ufone also hired three lollywood queens i.e. Meera, Jia Ali
and Veena Malik with Mikaal in an advertisement of “Baat Ban Jaye”. This
advertisement created a big controversy regarding the erotic and sexually
attracting acts by the three female models. Due to negative response by people

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Ufone had to vacate its billboards and eradicate its banners, posters etc overnight,
as directed by CEO and CMO of Ufone.

But now Ufone has again hired a comedian trio featuring Faisal Qureshi, Mikaal &
Hammad. The strategy behind hiring this trio is that they are economical and are
personal favorites of people. Ufone always hire endorsers in group

• Mr.Waqas Anjum (Senior Marketing Executive-Multan) is of view that you

must bring changes in marketing to attract customers. For this purpose Ufone
is re-launching itself under the name of one single brand called “UFONE”. This
brand would have Orange & Black as its corporate color instead of
conventional Orange & Green color.

ADVERTISING MEDIA: To increase the reach and frequency of advertisement

Ufone is using repetitive strategy for its advertisements. And the humorous theme
always makes the ads more appealing and engaging the minds of customers. Ufone
advertise in the following media types:-
Print Media --»Ufone tries and print ads in all leading newspapers including The
Dawn, Jung, Nawa-i-Waqt, Khabrain and local Sindhi newspapers as well. Ufone place
its ads in all leading magazines as well i.e. Sunday magazine, akhabr-e-jahan, Libas,
Mag etc

Broadcast Media --» It is the prior choice for Ufone. It includes the electronic
media television and radio. Ufone is advertising in all Pakistani channels including
GEO, Hum, ARY, Indus, TV one, HBO, Cartoon Network etc (except MTV Pakistan).
Ufone also plays its ads on local channels like WASEB and Punjab TV.

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Display Media --»This type of media is the second choice of Ufone where it carries
out its most of sales promotion and advertising. Ufone advertise using billboards,
hoardings, signs (on Shop boards etc), posters, wall paintings etc. SME Multan has
used a new and innovative vehicle in display media i.e. Ufone’s painted rickshaws

Online Media --» Internet is the online media. Ufone places flashing ads on famous
portals like coolbuddy.com, pakfellows.com etc. But Ufone is not carrying out direct
mail or direct e-mail advertising

Events --» Ufone has sponsored many events in the past and holds future plans
concerning it. The famous event sponsored by Ufone in 2006 was a series of musical
concerts did all over Pakistan, featuring Mikaal Hassan and Junoon, it named UROCK

AD SHOOTS: The ads of Ufone are shot mostly within Pakistan. But the PostPay ads
are shot in foreign locations. Recently Ufone shot in the picturesque locations of
northern areas of Pakistan in its advertisement of UWON “sabse sasti call”

SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT analysis is an overall evaluation of the company’s

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  Strengths (S)
 Weaknesses (W)
 Opportunities (O)
 Threats (T)

STRENGTHS

Strengths include internal capabilities, resources, and positive situational factors

that may help the company to serve its customers and achieve its objectives.
The strengths of Ufone are as follows:-
 Ufone’s differentiation is its biggest strength. Ufone offers lowest off-net
call rates that differentiate it from its competitors
 Ufone is offering more and better Value Added Services (VAS) than its
competitors i.e. Ufone’s Walkie
talkie,_______________________________
 Ufone is enjoying the second largest cellular network in Pakistan
 Ufone has the most promising and attractive ATL (Above The Line) activities
 Ufone has great management within the organization (internally & externally)

WEAKNESSES

Weaknesses include internal limitations and negative situational factors that may
interfere with the company’s performance.
The weaknesses of Ufone are as follows:-
 Ufone has less professionalism within the organizational members
 As Ufone is a subsidiary of PTCL, which was formerly under government
management, Ufone still has a shadow of a government organization
 Ufone still has room for the betterment of its network coverage in
comparison to The Market Giant “MOBILINK”
 Ufone has pathetic billing system for postpaid connections. This faulty system
creates a negative vibe among its customers

OPPORTUNITIES

Opportunities are favorable factors or trends in the external environment that the
company may be able to exploit to its advantage.

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Ufone has following opportunities in its way:-
 Ufone’s biggest opportunity lying ahead in near future is the phase of
conversion of their GSM technology Into 3G (satellite based) technology
 Ufone has the opportunity of growing its customer base due to increasing
trend of using mobile phones
 Ufone has the opportunity to win the customers of its competitors by
providing them superior services on lower price
 Ufone has the opportunity that it is pioneer in southern Punjab where it can
promote itself and become market leader on the basis of this very fact

THREATS

Threats are unfavorable external factors or trends that may present challenges to
performance.
Ufone is facing/about to face the following threats:-
 Ufone’s biggest opportunity is its biggest threat as well. The phase of its
conversion of GSM technology to 3G technology can be a threat for it if not
carried out properly
 The boosting customer base of Warid and Zong is also a big threat for Ufone
 The decreasing economy rate and instability of Pakistan is a big threat for all
businesses in Pakistan including Ufone

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

It’s an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value than
competitor’s offer. Ufone strategizes to gain more and more competitive
advantages. It also uses these competitive advantages well enough for its promotion.
Currently Ufone is enjoying the following competitive advantages:-
 Lowest overall call rates
 Value added Services (VAS)
 Call block service
 Corporate color

CHALLENGES

Ufone face many challenges with the ever growing needs of telecommunication. It
must remain profitable with the decreasing economical situation of Pakistan. It must
grow as well in these dark times if it has to remain IN the market. Ufone face very

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 strong competition from its competitors. It must offer lowest rates with better
quality service. New features and services should be introduced to make its
customers loyal, happy and satisfied.

FUTURE PLANS

►Keeping in view the growth potential of the cellular industry there is no option but
to be aggressive in order to remain a potent force in the cellular industry.

►In order to extend cellular network Ufone has finalized a huge network expansion
contract amounting to about USD 550 million, which will enhance the subscribers’
capacity by 10 million. This is the largest ever expansion project of Ufone.

►A strong focus will be on maintaining high quality of service, which is always a

benchmark of Ufone, increasing usage and exploring new revenue streams on value
added services, market visibility through various market initiatives to fulfill
subscribers’ satisfaction and demand and above all to increase the value of
investment for the shareholders.

CONCLUSION

By keenly analyzing the marketing of Ufone, we group member agree that Ufone is
not a safe player in the market. It is penetrating its market by taking risks and
aggressively promoting & advertising itself. It holds second largest market share
and is seeking to become the market leader anyway possible. We came through very
unconventional strategies and ad campaigns while working on this report. We believe
that mobile services are the toughest market to enter and survive. And in this tough
market Ufone isn’t only surviving but growing at an exceptional rate.
Ufone is using humorous theme in its ads which has become its benchmark.
People enjoy watching, discussing and following Ufone ads the most. And it is the
biggest achievement of Ufone in recent times.
We wish a very best of luck to Ufone. May it progress in this field and achieve its
desired goals. (AMEEN)

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