W ear Reader,
whether it is innovative advertisements
The Indian telecommunications industry
is one of the fastest growing in the
world. Telecom industry in India has a
big market potentiality and is a fast
growing sector. This issue of mPulse
brings out articles on one of the most
promising fields of business in India.
Marketing and General Manage-
ment Forum (MGM) of T. A. Pai Man-
agement Institute takes pride in an-
nouncing the theme for this edition of
mPulse – Telecom Industry.
In the cover story, you would read
about the price wars in the Indian Tele-
com Industry, about the various players
in the industry, some of which were es-
tablished, like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone
and BSNL, and some new players which
took the industry by storm, like TATA
Docomo.
3G and 4G standards are creating
waves in the industry.. Continuing with
the theme of this edition, we would get
an insight into different aspects related
to 3G and 4G, their features and bene-
fits.
Promotions form the major mar-
keting component in the Telecom In-
dustry. The next article speaks about the
promotion strategies adopted by some
of the big players like Bharti Airtel, Vo-
dafone, BSNL and TATA Docomo,
2 | mPulse Dec’10
like the Zoozoo ads of Vodafone or re-
cruiting new Brand Ambassadors.
Moving ahead, the next article talks
about the intense competition in the
Tablet PC arena, which was previously
dominated by the I-Pad, but now new
entrants like Samsung Galaxy-tab have
changed the dynamics of the game.
Moving ahead, we would get a dif-
ferent point of view towards recession
wherein we would be able to compre-
hend how recession is a good opportu-
nity for companies to nurture their
brands. Apart from this, the role of a
brand ambassador as a potential me-
dium to communicate with the consum-
ers is discussed with quintessential illus-
trations.
Among other articles like Ready to
Eat foods and Social Marketing, later in this
issue, some unconventional topics like
Mobile Gaming and their increasing de-
mand in the market have been covered.
Team MGM would like to take this
opportunity to thank all the authors of
this issue for the quality of their contri-
bution.
Happy Reading!!!
- Team MGM
Contact us:
mgm@tapmi.edu.in
Cover Story
Price Wars - Telecom Industry 4
3G and 4G Wireless Play 8
Telecom Promotions 10

Insight

Tablet PC 14
Mobile Gaming 16
Social Marketing 17
Ready To Eat Treats 19

View/Counter View
50% Discount is better than Buy 1 Get 1 Free. 20

The World of Marketing 23

About Team MGM 25

mPulse Dec’10 | 3
Cover Story

Price Wars - Telecom Industry

This Article is submitted by Preetha D. of PGP 1.
This article talks about the intense competition among the major
players in the Telecom Industry, which led to Price wars among them

Price war is a term used in the or as Tata Docomo’s slogan says –

economic sector to indicate a state of Make companies ‘Do the new’
intense competitive rivalry along with a • Most of the mobile service providers
multi-lateral series of price reduction. are good only in a few circles of the
One competitor will lower its price, then 20 odd circles present in the country
others will lower their prices to match it.
If one of them reduces their price The tariff war launched by Tata
again, a new round of reductions begins. Docomo has made all the service pro-
In the short term, price wars are good viders scurrying for cover to innovate or
for consumers, as they can take advan- perish so much so that everyone has
tage of lower prices. launched pay – per second plans.
In the medium to long term, they
may be good for the dominant firms
present in the industry. Normally, the
smaller, more marginal, firms cannot
compete and must shutdown. The re-
maining firms absorb the market share
of those that have closed. In the long
term, the consumer may also lose. With
fewer firms in the industry, prices tend
to rise, sometimes higher than what they
were before the price war started.
The mobile telephony market in
the country is one of the most competi- Videocon took all these factors
tive in the world. There are a number of into account and knew that it had to be
challenges – different to be adopted by the market.
• 635 million mobile subscrib- And so it did. Videocon recently
ers across various demographics launched a pay per second tariff plan
have a difference in requirements in for calls to US and Canada making them
terms of tariffs, packages etc. at par with local calls. In another
• More than 15 odd mobile operators scheme, customers can call Singapore
has made surviving in this country and Malaysia at Rs 1.69/min.
somewhat like ‘survival of the fittest’
4 | mPulse Dec’10
There a number of positives and nega- has opened a Pandora’s Box of sorts
tives of this move. taking the Indian Telecom Industry into
First the positives -
• This initiative makes Videocon move
into a completely different territory
as compared to its competitors
• The number of ISD calls from India
has increased a lot over the past cou-
ple of years and this would probably
boost Videocon’s bottom line
• This also shows that doing some-
thing new consistently, is very impor-
tant and the fact that the telecom in-
dustry still has scope for quite a bit
of innovation
The negatives of this strategy
• There is no entry barrier to this strat-
frenzy. Even with a little exaggeration,
egy as other companies would now per second billing, is as revolutionary as
follow the same move like in the case the invention of the telephone itself. No
of Tata Docomo. In this case the wonder the world is inquisitive about
first mover advantage would surely how the companies are able to do so
go for a toss and make hefty profits at the same time.
• Telecom companies today, are sadly
AT&T is actually studying the business
just looking for innovation on the model of Bharti Airtel to understand
lines of pricing and not any other the magic formulae of customer
domain friendly prices.
• This move just makes one wonder
A few months back, the whole
whether these telecom companies BHARTI-MTN episode was doing the
would go further into the RED! headlines. Bharti had been so desperate
to make it big as a
The biggest advantage which Vid- global telecommunication giant of that
eocon has is its deep pockets. And that desperation according was the Indian
may outweigh the negatives for them. companies getting over-competitive in
But only time will tell whether they per- India.
form or perish. But, with DOCOMO starting with
The one second billing thing is per second billing and the subsequent
changing the face of Indian Telecom! It announcement by TRAI to make it
makes one wonder if Tata DOCOMO mandatory for all operators to introduce

mPulse Dec’10 | 5
“Per Second Billing”, it sounded the
alarm bells all around the telecom sector
and Bharti Airtel was no exception.
After the announcement many op-
erators sat down and put their efforts to
come to terms with the ‘per second bill-
ing scheme. It is estimated that the
telecom industry can lose billions in
revenue.
So, it was no surprise when Singa-
pore telecom (SINGLTEL) announced
that it would be increasing its effective
stake in India’s mobile phone operator
Bharti Airtel from 30.43 % to 31.95 %.
SingTel which is a sponsor for
Bharti Airtel would purchase an addi-
tional 730,000 shares at an estimated
payment of between 18,073 million to
30,084 million INR.
It is clearly evident that Bharti
Airtel is feeling the heat after joining the
per second billing price wars. The stead-
ily increasing competition in the Indian
telecom sector is definitely not giving a
helping hand to matters.
On Friday, Bharti Airtel gave a down-
beat outlook due to a price war after
posting its slowest pace of profit growth
in at least six years, sending its shares
6 | mPulse Dec’10
down nearly 7 percent.
With per second billing slated to de-
crease the operating margins, the profits
are surely going to be hit, unless the
ARPU’s see a dramatic increase.
It has been an eventful quarter for
Bharti Airtel starting with the MTN deal
and the SINGTEL announcement
hence forth.
The Buyer has turned Seller
The problems are not for Airtel
alone though, until and unless the tele-
com operators find innovative ways to
increase the user spending and do it fast
enough, the telecom sector might face
some serious problems. One area which
each of them have to look at seriously
making ground is Mobile Value Added
Services. The basic telephony is just not
enough for these companies to sustain.
What do you think of the “per sec-
ond” pricing predicament? The cus-
tomer is surely going to be happy but
how are the telecom companies going to
cope with it?
A look at the telecom stocks on the In- vices at a time when the earnings from
dian bourses: Date: July 9, 2010 – the call services are accruing wafer-thin
Bharti Airtel up 10%, margins.
Idea Cellular up 12%, Right now, the valuations in the
MTNL up 4%, telecom sector are cheapest in the near-
Tata Communications up 4% and est recorded history as it has priced in
almost all the negative impact, including
Reliance Communications up 3%.
the flash distortion that is likely to
The refreshing upsurge comes on
emerge by a sudden entry of Reliance
the back of re-rating of the telecom
Industries in the telecom industry. In
stocks by the financial services firm
fact, many retail investors have already
Credit Suisse citing improved environ-
started buying into telecom stocks based
ment. The report says:
on the sum-of-the-parts valuations of
“Competitive environment is improv- the telecom towers owned by the tele-
ing with headline tariffs stable over com companies. More recently, even
the past eight months. High 3G pay- LIC had bought a 5% stake in Bharti
outs have crimped ability of chal- Airtel – a hint that the sector prospects
lengers to go for another price war. can only improve from here and that the
In this backdrop, we raise our mobile sector cis game for consolidation very
margins estimates by 200-300 bps soon.
over FY11-12.We believe that Bharti
- Preetha D.
(target price Rs.360) and Idea (target
price Rs.75) could give us a 27-30%
upside from current levels and hence
upgrade them to OUTPERFORM."
The sector has been under a con-
stant buzz after the re-entry of Reliance
Industries into the Telecom sector
post acquisition of Infotel Broadband
Services – which owns pan-India li-
censes of broadband airwaves. Reliance
Industries has indicated that it would
use the unproven long-term evolution
technology for wireless broadband ser-
vices rather than the WiMax standard.
Telecom analysts are of the opin-
ion that the sector is up for positive sur-
prises once the premium 3G services are
launched. Most of the bigger players
have placed big bets on the elite 3G ser-
mPulse Dec’10 | 7
Cover Story
3G and 4G Wireless Play
This article is submitted by Chhavi Gupta of PGP 1.
The article talks about the 3G and 4G technology and how they will
change our lives.
3G
Mobile technology has been evolv-
ing very rapidly in the past decade. The
transformation from 2G to 3G and be-
yond is taking at a breakneck pace. 3G is
the third-generation of technology stan-
dards for mobile phones and telecom-
munication services. 3G differs from 2G
as it allows simultaneous use of speech
and data services, provides peak data
rates of at least 200 kbit/s and appar-
ently has more security.
It has not only made phenomenal
increase in rates of data transfer but has
also provided us with some spectacular
features like Mobile internet access and
broadband wireless data in wireless envi-
ronment. Video calls, video conferenc-
ing, audio on demand, wireless voice
telephone have also been made possible
by 3G. Features such as a provider redi-
recting a TV channel directly to the mo-
bile (called Mobile TV) or receiving a
movie on demand make 3G unique.
Other location based features like send-
ing informa-
tion about the
motels, find-
ing book
stores in the
locality, check-
ing weather or
traffic condi-
8 | mPulse Dec’10
tions report on the mobile or finding
friends and business locally has now
been made possible by 3G
3G in India
In 2008, 3G enabled mobile and
data services were launched in India by
BSNL. It was followed later by MTNL
in Delhi and Mumbai. The country wide
auction took place in April 2010. Tata
Docomo was the first private player in
India to launch 3G services in Novem-
ber 2010. Airtel has also launched these
services. The other players are expected
to launch these services by 2011 in In-
dia.
What does 4G bring to us?
4G is the fourth generation of cel-
lular wireless standards. It is a successor
to 3G and 2G mobile and telecommuni-
cation standards. 4G refers to an all IP
packet switched network unlike its
predecessors which were partly circuit
switched and partly packet switched. It
provides ultra-broadband Internet ac-
cess (100+ Mbps), new services like
HDTV and replacement of voice calls
by IP telephony.
Mobile networks using 4G shall
allow seamless mobility which would
imply that a file transfer shall not be in-
terrupted in case the mobile moves
from one base station to another due to
handover. The terminal shall also keep
the same IP address while moving.
This privilege is provided by mo-
bile IP protocol which is a part of IP
version 6. In addition to this 4G pro-
vides “Interoperability” of diverse set
of existing wireless networks such as
cellular wirelss, WLAN, PAN, satellites
and fixed wireless networks. Hence 4G
provides us with “Anytime, Anywhere
with Any tecnology” character.
4G network providers
In U.S. we have the major players
of 4G as T-Mobile, Sprint and
MetroPCS followed byVerizon Wireless
which is actually the fourth U.S. carrier
to call its network 4G. These carriers use
very different. T-Mobile's network is
HSPA+, Sprint has a WiMAX network
and MetroPCS's and Verizon uses LTE.
T-Mobile USA, Nokia Siemens Net-
works Drive Evolution of HSPA.
Operators would be able to achieve
peak data rates of more than 650 mega-
bits per second (Mbps), thanks to an
HSPA standard being driven by T-
Mobile USA and Nokia Siemens Net-
works. Long Term HSPA Evolution
would improve mobile broadband with
speeds matching those promised by
LTE Advanced. T-Mobile USA and
Nokia Siemens Networks are driving the
technology’s standardization aiming to
make it available for commercial deploy-
ment by 2013.
Sprint’s 4G network service
Will Sprint the world provider for
4G bring a great change in the work
profile for hundreds of people around
the world. Sprint’s 3G packages claim
that 4G is 7 times faster than its prede-
cessors. Users who have been concerned
about privacy usually keep to themselves
in public Wi-Fi hotspots . Also this is
why they revert to cellphone based
browsing services. It enables them to
use a cellular network for connectivity.
People either use a 3G modem or 3G
compatible notebook/mobile to work
their way around the office hours. With
4G technology to lean on to, people
wonder if it is worth the hassle of buy-
ing. The packages might be fast but they
also come with a cost. On top of that,
one would need a 4G modem to sup-
port the bandwidth. 4G would also need
support for new internet protocols.
Verizon Wireless 4G LTE
Verizon's new 4G LTE network is
the fast and makes the carrier one of the
fastest in wireless networks. For road
warriors using Windows-based laptops,
this network is a boon to wireless Inter-
net connectivity. It provides speedy Web
access even during high speed travel.
Nevertheless the high prices and limited
device selection makes this a difficult
choice for average consumers.
- Chhavi Gupta
Sources: http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com/
news-events/press-room/press-releases/t-mobile-
usa-nokia-siemens-networks-drive-evolution-of-
hspa
mPulse Dec’10 | 9
Cover Story
Telecom Promotions
This article is submitted by Tanvi Srivastava of PGP 1. The article
talks about the major telecom players in the industry and their promo-
tional strategies in order to increase their subscriber base.
What supposedly would you do if
you ever end up getting 1200 crores of
those green, luring and crisp papers?
Put up a liquor factory? Buy a house in
London? Or stack those in the Swiss
bank? Well, the telecom sector in India
spends it on advertising!
Recently, there has been lots of ac-
tivity in and around the advertising me-
dia with different telecom services pro-
viders all trying to grab the huge con-
sumer potential in India. Few have al-
ready made a strong hold on the market
and have encroached upon the existing
customers of other services. Competi-
tion is a big word today and the con-
sumers owe a lot to it personally!
With 16 players in the telecom
arena, we are witnessing today huge
wars in pricing and promotions. The ad
world suddenly took up to huge adver-
tising expenditure once Tata Docomo
came into picture in India in 2009. With
“pay per second” strategy by Docomo
eating into the customer pie of other
10 | mPulse Dec’10
players, the advertising media was
hugely splurged. Every tele service
pulled up its socks and rose up in re-
sponse to this superb tactic by the joint
venture of Tata Group with the Japa-
nese telecom giant NTT Docomo. The
biggies of the mobile telecom industry
were no doubt in a state of panic! No
one wanted to lose out on existing cus-
tomers. So new ideas were born, new
schemes were adopted and more money
was spent on promotions.
BHARTI AIRTEL
Each of the telecom giant in India
came up with eye-catcher ideas for pro-
motions, identified new areas where the
existing and possible customers could be
Bharti Airtel, the leading telecom service
in India as well as Asia spends around
300 crores on advertising. The majority
of this share i.e. 55% goes into advertis-
ing , 20% in outdoors and the rest in
print and digital media.
With endorsers like Shahrukh
Khan and A.R.Rehman and the ads fo-
cused on ringing the emotional quotient
of its viewers, Bharti Airtel leads the
show.
 Recently, to popularise their brand,
Airtel has come up with an initiative of
Airtel Krishi Card which enables agri-
culturists and farmers easy access to vi-
tal agri information. Its objective is to
provide customer convenience. Another
strategy of theirs to attract new and ex-
isting customers is their collaboration
with Dow Jones to introduce Wall Street This time the industry major has
Journal India Mobile Application for the come up with animated parrot ads. The
first time in India. The application en- ads basically target the low income
ables all Airtel users free access to In- groups for reasonable recharge offers.
dian and international financial and Another innovative thing they
business news from Wall Street Journal came up with recently, to connect with
and Dow Jones Newswires. Airtel also their target audience, was “Win an Air-
conducts various events like Airtel ship Ride Contest”. They launched Air-
Champions’s League Twenty20, which ship A-60+ in the skies. This was a new
adds up to their brand building. way to promote their brand by giving a
VODAFONE chance to the contest winners to be
Vodafone Essar, the Indian sub-
sidiary of Vodafone Group, spends
around 200 crores on advertising. The
expenditure on commercials is as huge
as 65%. They popularised their brand
with the pug, Happy to Help Cam-
paign, after Hutch was bought by Voda-
fone. The series still remains one of the
most remembered ads of all seasons and
the jingle “Everyday I want to fly, stay seated in the airship for a leisurely ride.
by my side..” still occupies the memories This is the first time in India when a
of most of us. telecom major has used an airship for
promotions. Speaking on this initiative,
Kumar Ramanathan, chief marketing
officer, Vodafone Essar, says, "Our cus-
tomers are special to us. Apart from in-
novative products and services, we con-
stantly endeavour to bring unique inter-
national experiences for them."
However, the stars of the cam-

mPulse Dec’10 | 11

paign still remain the Vodafone
“Zoozoos” ,the loved characters of the
Twenty20 Cricket matches.
So powerful was this campaign that
in a study called Day After Cricket, Zoo-
zoos happened to be the most recalled
brand with 43 percent unaided recall.
The fear with these ads however was
Zoozoos becoming a bigger brand than
Vodafone itself!
BSNL
The other big player in the industry
is BSNL. It is the world’s seventh largest
telecom company and the only teleser-
vice provider who is focused on building
the bridge between the rural and the ur-
ban India. They spend moderately on
media like print, digital and outdoors.
With Deepika Padukone as the brand
endorser, there has been an increased
recall of the BSNL mobile service.
BSNL typically follows the sponsorship
approach to increase brand awareness.
12 | mPulse Dec’10
TATA DOCOMO
Tata Docomo is the new player in
the industry who turned one on June
10th 2010. It was the first services pro-
vider who broke the convention of the
mobile number starting from 9. Their
total sales budget is divided into 35% of
the pie going into advertising, 20% on
consumer promotions and 45% into
trade promotions. It recognizes the
teenagers and the young adults of India,
who mostly live on small earnings or
pocket money, as its target market as
there is a massive mobile penetration in
the modern day youth with 92% owning
mobile handsets.
Tata Docmo ads are happy and full
of life with the strategy to reach out to
its target customers by the slogan “Do
the new”. They started with a Docomo
signature tune and the train commercial.
K.S Chakravarthy, national creative di-
rector, Draft FCB Ulka says that “An
audible is inherent to a telecom brand.
This is so, because ringtones, caller back
tunes and other such value added ser-
vices are very important for a telecom
provider.” And that is why the Docomo
signature tune composed by Ram Sam-
pat.its target customers by the slogan.
 Docomo’s were the tenth entrant
in an already cluttered space so they had
a very big challenge ahead. However,
instead of going the usual way of televi-
sion or print, they got this brand
launched on radio and that too in an al-
together different way. On the launch
day of this teleservice, four FM stations
viz. Radio City, Big FM, Red FM and
Fever FM tied up for the big event.
They have done their every bit for
promotions. They have even targeted
the social networking space for their
purpose and have launched their mobile
community product BuddyNet wherein
the members can enjoy feature like mu-
sic, sharing talk time and free browsing
of social networking sites product Bud-
dyNet wherein the members can enjoy
feature like music, sharing talk time and
free browsing of social networking sites
like Facebook, Twitter etc. on their
Docomo phones. No doubt their ideas
have been successful.
Even the outdoor and print ads
have been successful. They have tried to
create brand visibility by giving coupons,
bonus packs and contests and prizes.
Other players
Other players like Idea, Reliance,
Aircel, MTN, Virgin Mobile and the
others are also trying their best to re-
main in the picture. Every move is an
attempt to make the brand visible and
attract the attention towards various
schemes and offers by the telecom ser-
vice. As I said, competition is a big
word today but the fruits are enjoyed by
the consumers who have to spend just
one paise from their purses. So naturally,
they owe a lot this heating competition
among the tele giants.
Let us see how cheap it can get! We have
seen that with every rise in the advertis-
ing expenditure, there is a dip in the tar-
iff. So let us wait and watch for newer
things to arrive at our doorsteps, for the
1200 crores is expected to increase by
50% next year.
- Tanvi Srivastava
Rebranding of Airtel Logo
On 18 November 2010, Airtel rebranded
itself in India in the first phase of a global re-
branding strategy. The company unveiled a
new logo with 'airtel' written in lower case. De-
signed by London-based brand agency, Brand
Union, the new logo is the letter 'a' in lower-
case, with 'airtel' written in lowercase under the
logo.
Explaining the new look in detail, Sanjay
Kapoor, CEO, Bharti Airtel states that the new
identity underlines Airtel's willingness to em-
brace everything that is new. He adds, "The
logo type is modern, vibrant and friendly and
signals our resolution to be accessible to our
customers and stakeholders. And the lowercase
is our recognition for humility. The red colour,
which is an integral part of the brand, contin-
ues to represent heritage, energy and passion.
The new curved and the gentle highlight al-
most gives the impression of a living object; at
the same time, it represents a dynamic force of
unparalleled energy, brings us closer to con-
sumers and is a symbol which will help ensure
instant recognition across diverse international
markets.". (Source: Wikipedia)
mPulse Dec’10 | 13
Insight

TABLET PC
This article is submitted by Gagan Saraswat of PGP 1. This article talks
about the intense competition in the Tablet PC arena, which was previously
dominated by the I-Pad , but now new entrants like Samsung Galaxy-tab
have changed the dynamics of the game. With new features, lower prices
and high end technology.... the Customer is the boss again...!!!!
If last year was the year of Net- Android as one alternative that contin-
books, 2010 seems to be the year of ues to catch up with the IOS of the fea-
Tablets. Since the day, very first rumours tures, speed and effectiveness and effi-
of Apple Tablet iPad started floating in, ciency of the device.
IT hardware manufacturers of all hues There are two types of tablet pcs
have jumped on After the phenomenon today. There are those that run full PC
of the iPad, a variety of other manufac- operating systems such as Windows 7,
turers began to slowly enter the battle which happen to be modified to support
arena tablet computers with a variety of touch-screens. Users need to be able to
excellent features. Even a few weeks use the same functionality as a desktop
ago, a 1000 tablet computer units sold mouse would such as closing a window,
out within 3 hours in a number of malls which is why a stylus was used. Some
including folding screens with a built in
keyboard, but we're beginning to see a
focus on strictly multi-touch capabili-
ties.to the Tablet bandwagon.

A current example of this would

in very small cities too.
The enthusiasm of gadget lovers in
Many cities seemed extraordinary in wel-
coming the presence of these mobile
computing devices. Truly a vibrant
market. And of course, the vendors be-
gan to glance at Many countries as a
potential market for gadgets, especially
tablet computer products.
And other than Apple’s devices, a
variety of vendors will begin to look
be the latest announced Windows 7 HP
Slate. This will be the first true business
tablet out in the market. Others that will
soon follow include the Cisco Cius and
the Avaya Desktop Video Device which
are both video conferencing devices.
The Blackberry Playbook will be fo-
cused towards business pc tablet, but
this and the other two previous tablets
mentioned won't be running off of a
traditional desktop operating system.
Joining the Tablet market was IT
major HP, which unveiled its Tablet,
called Slate, at the Consumer Electron-

14 | mPulse Dec’10
ics Show at Las Vegas in January. The
company recently released a video pro-
moting its upcoming touchscreen Tablet
which will run on Windows 7 operating
system..
The Big Guns who threaten the
IPAD are-
The Blacberry Playbook
-inch screen with a resolution of 1024 x
600 pixels but weighs even less. It's pow-
ered by a 1GHz processor and
PowerVR graphics accelerator, both
comparable to the iPad's, but has double
the RAM (512MB).
With the Lords muscling it out ,
trying to eat up each other’s shares and
grabbing new customers , its gala time
for the end users. With a whole plethora
of features , new launches, relaunches ,

It has several other advantages

over the iPad. It supports Flash, for ex-
ample, something that Apple are
unlikely to ever match and this makes it
a superior device for Web browsing
(HTML5 is also supported). It also has a
5 megapixel camera on the back and a 3
megapixel camera on the front for vid-
eoconferencing. introductory discounts and loyalty
points , the customer is the Boss.
Samsung Galaxy Tab
The Dawn of the TABLET also marks
the Death Of the Notebook.!!!!!!

- Gagan Saraswat

The Korean giant's first tablet, the

Samsung Galaxy TAB was the iPad's
first real competitor with it launches in
November. Like the PlayBook, it has a 7
mPulse Dec’10 | 15
Insight
Mobile Gaming
The article is submitted by Shubhayu Datta of PGP-1.
The article talks about the evolution of Mobile games and impact of
mobile devices on the gaming industry.
Started with “Snake”, moved on to
“Tetris”, and finally with its ever grow-
ing popularity, the mobile gaming indus-
try is now a billion dollar industry with a
revenue of $5800 mn in 2009. With the
advent of technology, the world of
games is not restricted in your PCs or
laptops. Be it arcade or action, games of
every genre are available to mobile
phone users.
With the creation of the cell
phone, one was easily impressed with
the fact that the phone required no ca-
bles. However, towards the end of the
20th century, cellular phones started to
modernize, and people wanted more out
of their cell phones. Cell phone games
were some of the new features that dif-
ferentiated one particular model from
another.
Nokia tried to create its own mo-
bile gaming platform with the N-
Gage in 2003 but this effort failed
mainly because, at the time, the conver-
gence of a cell phone and a handheld
gaming platform did not mix. Many us-
ers complained of having to talk on the
phone 'taco-style' by tilting it sideways in
order to speak and hear. There were
hardware issues as well, and though
some quality games came out, support
16 | mPulse Dec’10
for the platform was anaemic.
Today, cell phone games have
come a very long way. Their graphics are
about the same as you would expect on
a 4th or 5th generation game console
(which may not seem like a very big im-
provement yet is considered one be-
cause the game is being played on a cell
phone).
Another development is that, with
the advent of 3G technology, real time
multiplayer gaming will be possible
which will be much faster than anything
that you might have experienced in
GPRS connectivity.
Furthermore with so many varie-
ties of smart phones like the iPhone,
available in the market in competitive
prices, mobile games has gained a solid
foothold as gamers will be able to ex-
perience a whole new world of gaming
in their handheld devices. This in turn
would mean that the cellular phone
companies would make a higher profit
off these games.
- Shubhayu Datta
 Insight

Social Marketing
This article is written by Arpit Goel of PGP 1. The article talks about the
various Green Marketing initiatives of different companies, how they are
trying to change their brand positioning and what impact it can have on the
Indian Consumers.
Well it is not about marketing the India.
way GE does, but it is definitely about World’s largest mobile handset
electrifying the pockets by lightening the maker, Nokia, also launched a similar
mind and heart of the consumer; it is initiative, on World’s Environment Day
about Green and Ecological marketing in 2009, where people can give their old
which is becoming the latest trend for handsets to Nokia for recycling and
capturing a pie of the consumer cake by Nokia in return will plant a tree. The ini-
capitalizing on the greater sense of re- tiative was pilot tested in Delhi, Banga-
sponsibility and ownership of the gen- lore, Ludhiana and Gurgaon and re-
ext. ceived splendid response in spite of
Companies are trying to portray awareness about recycling being only
themselves either as producers of eco- 17% in India.
friendly products or as ecologically re-
sponsible companies by launching vari-
ous campaigns. Recently Aircel launched
its ‘Save our tigers, just 1411 left’ cam-
paign. The campaign not only created
awareness among people but also pro-
vided a platform where people could
donate funds to various NGOs. The
campaign is promoted aggressively by
stars like MS Dhoni, Amitabh Bachan, While some brands are showcasing
Baichung Bhutia to bring to light the their environmental concerns, some are
dwindling number of tiger population in launching new services, some brands
such as Videocon have taken the game
completely to a different level. Videocon
is now no more ‘The Indian Multina-
tional’ , it has changed its value proposi-
tion to ‘Experience change’, which was
unveiled at IIFA 2009. A lot is also visi-
ble in company’s new green logo which
goes well with company’s another

mPulse Dec’10 | 17
proposition ‘Eco Logic for sustainable
life’ .
As more and more companies en-
ter the foray,we will be exposed to a lot
more Green and Ecological marketing
ad products.
Except a small portion of our
population, majority are yet to be ex-
posed to the primitive forms of these
products. Are they ready for the leap ?
Can we see a revolution infold? Can this
ignite a new phase of ethical consumer-
ism in India? Or will it die a sudden
death?? All is yet to be seen because we
Indians consumers are like that only.
- Arpit Goel

India’s 2G Spectrum Scam

The recent 2G spectrum scam into light when the Indian In-
come Tax department was investigating the political lobbyist Nira
Radia. This scam involved government officials and politicians who
undercharged the mobile telephony companies for allocating the 2G
spectrum licenses. The difference in the money charged and the ac-
tual cost of the licenses was around Rs. 1,76,000 crores. As soon as
this scam was reported in the media, it became famous and came to
be known as the Nira Radia tapes controversy.
Key persons involved are:
A Raja: ex-Minister of Communications and Information Technol-
ogy.
Nira Radia: corporate lobbyist (whose leaked recorded conversa- A Raja
tions with politicians and corporates came to be known as Nira Radia
tapes controversy)
Barkha Dutt: NDTV journalist, lobbied for A. Raja to become minister
Vir Sanghvi: Hindustan Times editor, tampering media articles to reduce blame on
ministers
Corporations who were awarded the licenses were Unitech Group (JV with Telenor as
Uninor), Swan Telecom (along with Etisalat), Loop Mobile, Videocon Telecommunications, S Tel,
Reliance Communications and Tata Communications.
Ratan Tata and M Karunanidhi have also been linked to this controversy.
Money matters: These telecom companies bought the licenses
from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technol-
ogy's telecommunications division at Rs. 10,772 crore while accord-
ing to CAG of India, it was worth 1,76,000 crore.
(Source: Wikipedia)

18 | mPulse Dec’10

Nira Radia
 Insight

Ready to eat
The article is submitted by Aditi Behere of PGP-1.
This article talks about the increasing popularity of Ready to Eat foods
among urban Indians and the technology that made it possible to keep food
fresh without the use of preservatives.
Want to eat Mughlai paneer, Hy- families who don’t mind spending some
derabadi biryani, Dal Bukhara and Gajar extra money if it will save them trouble
ka halwa in the comfort of your home in the kitchen. Technology has also
whenever you want but don’t know how played a major role in increasing the
to cook? Ready to eat foods are the so- popularity of such foods. Retort, a new
lution to your problem. technology packs cooked food in a four-
Ready to cook meals are meals that layer package, which is then heated to
are already cooked or prepared and have 120 degrees Celsius to kill all living or-
a shelf life of over 12 months. These ganisms, thereby ensuring freshness.
foods do not have any pre-
MTR foods is the largest
servatives and hence, more
player in this emerging market
and more people, especially
with a near 65% share. The
working couples, are taking to
rest of the market is made up
ready-to-eat food in a big way.
of Satnam Overseas, ITC,
There is a growing tribe of
Ta s t y B i t e s, G C M M F,
urban Indians who avoid the
Haldiram and other local play-
tasks of slicing, dicing, peel-
ers.
ing and chopping to just
All the current players are mainly
opening up a packet and having a meal
present in a few metros. Since technol-
ready to be eaten.
ogy and packaging costs are high, the
Ready to eat foods were launched
current players need to look at expand-
in India about a decade ago but didn’t
ing their reach which will help bring
really catch on because of the prefer-
down prices indirectly.
ence of Indians for freshly cooked food.
Another reason is that retail stores did - Aditi Behere
not have sufficient refrigeration facilities.
Many factors have led to this shift in at-
titudes about ready to eat foods. There
is much more acceptance due to Chang-
ing lifestyle and increasing number of
double
income
nuclear

mPulse Dec’10 | 19
 For the topic “50% Discount is better
than Buy 1 Get 1 Free !!!”
Trambak Pattanayak of PGP-1 has given his opinion on
why 50% discount is the better option.
Talcum Powder to Airlines tickets
– it seems everyone is rather too eager
to sell an ‘extra’ to you for no extra cost.
Ever wondered why were you offered a
free soap with one of the same type
while you never really required the extra
soap or why were you offered two T-
shirts at the price of one? I am of the
opinion that customers rather prefer to
go for huge discount schemes rather
than such ‘catchy’ words. As a customer,
one perceives that the price of the extra
item is somewhat hidden in the quoted
amount. I remember one of my cousins
complaining about the fact that the den-
ims he bought from one of the well
known retailers were in fact priced dou-
ble while he was offered a discount on
his second buy.
Moreover, the occasional buyers
seldom go for such schemes which offer
an extra piece of item which may not be
required. Who would require the extra
TV set on offer while you just needed a
brand new TV in your living room? This
may rather be perceived as an attempt to
sell the stocked inventory while it does
not add any value to the customer.
A flat sale of 50% would be per-
ceived as a onetime offer and would be
rather attractive. It makes sense that the
shop offers such huge discounts which
are visible to the customers. When of-
20 | mPulse Dec’10
fered the extra item with a “buy 1 get 1
free” offer, often it turns out that cus-
tomers may refrain from buying such
bundled product as they might not re-
quire the extra quantities.
Suppose, after a lot of persuasion
you have agreed to buy new jewellery set
for your wife on your anniversary. Imag-
ine you are offered a second one for
free? Well, while your wife may rejoice
it, you would still wonder whether you
have indeed ended up paying more. If
the shopkeeper offers you a 50% dis-
count on every piece of jewellery, you
would be rather pleased.
Does it make sense to you when
you are offered a free item every time
you purchase? You may not require the
extra shirt of the same brand that is be-
ing offered.
Today, customers believe in value
for money. One will not purchase an ex-
tra item if he/she does not require it.
Thus, marketers should rather promote
discount schemes than insisting on an
extra item to the customer on his/her
purchase.
- Trambak Pattanayak
Against the topic “50% Discount is
better than Buy 1 Get 1 Free !!!”
Vamsi Krishna of PGP-2 has given his opinion on
why Buy 1 Get 1 Free is the better option.
What better topic than discounts/
offers for a marketing person to discuss
about especially during the festive sea-
son.
Over the past few days, every shop
I entered, on every product I looked,
there were over whelming discounts be-
ing offered. A buy 2 get 1 free for a
branded jeans, a 30% off in a high class
restaurant, and off course the best of
all, a buy 1 get 1 free or a 50% off.
I walked into a departmental stores
and I have observed 2 brands of sham-
poos, X and Y; X offering a 50% dis-
count and Y offering a ‘buy 1 get 1 of-
fer’. Both the offers seemed almost the
same to me as a consumer. So I ob-
served for a while the customers reac-
tion to these offers. A young girl walks
in to the store and picked up 2 bottles
of Y. Later, in a few minutes span of
time, a guy walks in and picked up 1
bottle of X.
I observed the customers for about
40 minutes and then I had made a very
interesting observation. Brand X had 4
customers and had sold 4
bottles and earned revenue
on 2 bottles whereas brand Y
had 4 customers but sold 8
bottles and earned revenue
on 4 bottles. Bingo!! That’s
when I realized these 2 offers
might appear the same for a consumer
but they are not the same for a com-
pany. The company might have an edge
while giving a buy 1 get 1 offer instead
of a 50% discount.
I was determined to verify this ob-
servation in other situations as well. I
had entered a bar which was offering a
buy 1 get 1 free on any drink the cus-
tomer orders. I had met a friendly group
of 3 friends who were sipping their
drink and started a conversation with
them and in the conversation they had
mentioned that they were here to have a
beer each but when they thought there
is a buy 1 get 1, they are sharing the
fourth one. So that’s when I asked them,
“Wouldn’t 50% discount have been a
better deal?” , One of them replied,
“We are getting a 50% discount now as
well. We drink 4 beers but we pay for 2”
and smiled. Bingo again!!! So people ac-
tually do not see much of a difference
between a ‘50% discount’ and a ‘buy 1
get 1 free’. They feel they are getting
double for what they pay. But in the
process a company is making extra reve-
nue as we have seen in the above cases.
So when the perceived difference among
the customers between the 2 offers is
almost negligible but the company is
gaining additional revenue, then why go
for the 50% discount at all?
mPulse Dec’10 | 21
 I had decided I need to make more
observations before I come to a conclu-
sion about which is better. I had reached
a restaurant which serves a large buffet
for dinner and was also offering a buy 1
get 1 free. I had walked in to find a
group of 4. An unusual group where
there were 3 pretty teenage girls along
with an old man of over 60. I had struck
a conversation with the man while serv-
ing myself food near the counter and he
said, “My granddaughters generally
come here alone every Saturday for din-
ner, but this week there was this 1+1 of-
fer due to which they would go waste if
there were only 3 people. So I had to
come along”. “Which unfortunately
Quiz Time !!!
Identify the logos.
15. Umbro
10. Goodyear
5. KFC
22 | mPulse Dec’10
would not have been the case if there
was a 50% discount” I thought to my-
self, and wished him a good dinner and
went back to my table and glanced at all
the tables to find that over 90% of the
tables were filled by groups which had
an even number of people. ‘The magic
of Buy 1 get 1’, I thought.
Extra revenue, no perceived differ-
ence among the customers, the 2 factors
which would definitely put ‘Buy 1 get 1
free’ ahead of ’50 % discount’.
- Vamsi Krishna
14. HMV 13. Lexus 11. Alfa Romeo 12. Renault
9. Taco Bell 8. Daewoo 6. Yellow Pages 7. Prudential
4. Kyocera 3. Bacardi 1. Google TV 2. kappa
Croma App Store: First Indian Retailer App Dhoni signs Rs. 29-crore endorsement deal
Store with Maxx Mobile
Amidst several plat- Riding on his popularity, Indian cricket team
form specific App captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni has signed a Rs.
S to re s av ai l ab l e 29- crore endorsement deal with Maxx Mobile
across different mo- for a period of seven years.
bile brands and de- http://www.livemint.com/2010/12/08141926/
vices, a new Indian Dhoni-signs-Rs-29crore-endors.html
player has taken its
baby steps. Infiniti
Retail has announced the release of Croma
Apps that will offer software Apps for the net-
book platform in India. Croma Apps will fea-
ture free and paid applications meant for Intel
Atom processor based netbooks. Apparently,
Croma is India's first electronics and gadgets
retailer to step into Software App Store scene.
http://www.techtree.com/India/News/
Croma_App_Store_First_Indian_Retailer_App_St
ore/551-113850-580.html

Reference wars BMW regains top slot in luxury car seg-

Can its 242-year- ment; overtakes Mercedes
old heritage help German auto major BMW has regained top
Encyclopaedia slot in January-November period after a fierce
Britannica retain battle for numbers with compatriot Mercedes
its brand equity, Benz in the Indian luxury car market, inching
especially with the closer to be the
omnipresent leader in 2010.
Wikipedia? The http://
first impression that you get as you shake www.thehindu.com/
hands with Jorge Cauz, with his keen penetrat- business/
ing eyes, is that of a highly charged person. As article948052.ece?
the conversation progresses, the image only
gets reinforced as the slightly-built President of
Encyclopaedia Britannica makes no bones
about his aggressive intent on India. “India has
one of the largest number of knowledge seek-
ers and we have India-specific growth plans,”
says Cauz.
Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/
catalyst/2010/12/16/
stories/2010121650040100.htm

mPulse Dec’10 | 23
Google unveils Nexus S phone & Ginger-
bread OS
The internet giant
Google Inc has
announced the
launch of its latest
smartphone,
Nexus S, and the
new version of its
popular Android smartphone operating system,
Gingerbread. The new Google Nexus S smart-
phone is manufactured by world's second larg-
est mobile phone maker, Samsung. The new
phone offers unique feature, Near Field Com-
munication, which helps users to make a pay-
ment by waving a device over an electronic
reader. The Nexus S smartphone runs on An-
droid 2.3 Gingerbread OS and is powered by 1
GHz Hummingbird processor.
http://news.oneindia.in/2010/12/07/google-
review-nexus-s-phone-gingerbread-os.html
ASA bans Reebok EasyTone ad
Reebok’s campaign for its EasyTone Curve
trainers has been banned for unproven claims
that they “help tone legs and bum”.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)
has banned a Reebok TV campaign for its
EasyTone Curve trainers saying the company's
claims lack enough credibility.The ASA re-
ceived two complaints where the complainants
challenged whether the claims could be sub-
stantiated.
http://www.newstatesman.com/
broadcast/2010/12/claims-trainers-easytone
24 | mPulse Dec’10
After 26 years, Honda to part ways with Hero
To sell its 26 per cent stake to the Munjals for $1.2
billion. Japan’s Honda Motor Corporation has
worked out an agreement to dissolve its holding in
its 26-year-old joint venture, Hero Honda, by
March 2011. According to the agreement, Honda
will sell its stake in the Indian entity to the promot-
ers of the Hero Group, the
Munjals. Japanese business
daily Nikkei has reported
that the deal will fetch the
company around $ 1.2 bil-
lion. Both the companies are
expected to seek approval
from their boards later this
month. In 1984, Honda and
the Hero Group inked an agreement to manufac-
ture and sell motorcycles in India. The spokesper-
son for Hero Honda declined to comment on the
development and whether any board meeting is
scheduled for this month.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/after-
26-years-honda-to-part-wayshero/417174/
Google, Yahoo, Rediff vie for market share of
mobile internet users
Mobile access to internet has increased several
folds over the last couple of years. Now search gi-
ants – Google, Yahoo and Rediff – are looking to
expand their reach to 723 million mobile subscrib-
ers once 3G services are launched in India. A re-
cent study revealed that Indians access the internet
on their mobile devices at least 2.4 days per week,
almost on a par with the 2.7 days per week PC ac-
cess to internet. According to a research and ana-
lytics firm – Informate Mobile Intelligence – report,
in August 2010 Google Search and Gmail topped
the list of most-accessed websites on mobile de-
vices reaching across 45 per cent of the mobile sub-
scribers in the country,
while Yahoo trailed with
about 30 per cent reach
on handsets
http://www.business-
standard.com/india/news/
mobiles-next-
battleground/416995/
 About Team MGM
The Marketing and General Management Forum (MGM) at TAPMI,
distinguishes itself with the frequency and wide variety of marketing related
events it organizes every year.
The purpose of the forum is to act as a platform for creating, sharing
and exchanging ideas for future managers. MGM forum consists of a team
of five second year students and seven first year students, who are very pas-
sionate about marketing. Through their various endeavors they wish to cre-
ate an avenue for students to look at marketing from different perspectives.

Members PGP-2 Members PGP-1

Saurabh Gupta Aditi Behere
Ravishankar Jakkuva Arpit Goel
Johar Das Chhavi Gupta
Nitish Mittal Gagan Saraswat
Emalda Philip Preetha D
Subhayu Datta
Tanvi S

Contact us: mgm@tapmi.edu.in

mPulse Dec’10 | 25