1

A PROJECT REPORT ON CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN MANAGEMENT

Change The Airtel logo

(Submitted towards partial fulfillment of Two year MBA degree program) (2010-2011)

Submitted to

Rajasthan Technical University, Kota

UNDER GUIDENCE OF Kiren Sukhwal SUBMITTED BY Jangid Bhagwan sahay

PIONEER INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

(Affiliated by RTU, Kota & Approved by AICTE, New Delhi) Pioneer Valley, Airport Road, Debari, Udaipur - 313003 (Rajasthan) Tel.: 0294-3204755-56 E-mail: pioneer_institute@rediffmail.com

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project titled Change the Airtel logo is an original piece of research work carried out by me under the guidance and supervision of Kiren sukhwal The information has been collected from genuine & authentic sources.

Place: Date

Jangid Bhagwan sahay

PREFACE
The MBA programme is well structured and integrated course of business studies. The main objective of MBA is to develop skill in student by supplementing the theoretical study of business management in general. The horizons of today have expanded to such heights and widths, that for establishing once identity, one requires a great deal of knowledge, smartness, tactics and courage. The MBA programme provides student with a fundamental knowledge of business and organizational functions and activities, as well as an exposure to strategic thinking of management. Books dont suffice the level of knowledge a student is required to possess. He/She should have a preview about the real happening of corporate sector. .During this project I came to know about the management practices in real corporate world that how it differs from those of theoretical knowledge. In this report I have worked on Change the Airtel logo(topic) ****PLEASE MENTION THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING THIS TOPIC IN 4-5 LINES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
On the successful completion of this project I would like to express gratitude to all the people who have helped me in completion of this project With immense pleasure, I would like to present this project report on Change the Airtel logo (topic). It has been an enriching experience for me to conduct a study on contemporary issues in management, which would not have possible without the goodwill and support of the people around me. As a research work needs hard work, keen insight and long patience with scholarly vision based on content operation hence it becomes a humble duty to express my sincere gratitude to all those who have helped me during my project work. Words are insufficient to express my gratitude toward Mr. N.K.Gupta, Chairman of Pioneer Institute of Management for giving me an opportunity to learn and explore. I would like to extend my heartily thanks to Kiren sukhwal (faculty guide), without whose guidance and assistance this project would not have been accomplished. At last but not least my thanks are also extended to Mr.B.L.Yadav (Librarian) and Mr. Khan (Computer Lab Incharge) for their constant support extended by them. I am also grateful to my parents, relatives and friends for encouraging & giving me moral support.

Jangid Bhagwan sahay

INDEX

1.DECLARATION 2.PREFACE 3.ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 4. INTRODUCTION 5. HISTORY AND GROWTH OF AIRTEL 6.PROMOTIONAL TOOLS 7. REASON TO CHANGE 8. Airtel Positioning

2 3 4 6-7 8
9-11 12-17 18-20

9. Repositioning Airtel

20-26

INTRODUCTION

BHARTI AIRTEL Bharti Airtel limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa. The company offers mobile voice & data services, fixed line, high speed broadband, IPTV, DTH, turnkey telecom solutions for enterprises and national & international long distance services to carriers. bharti airtel has been ranked among the six best performing technology companies in the world by business week. bharti airtel had 200 million customers across its operations. Airtel was born free, a force unleashed into the market with a relentless and unwavering determination to succeed. A spirit charged with energy, creativity and a team driven to seize the day with an ambition to become the most globally admired telecom service. Airtel, after just ten years, has risen to the pinnacle of achievement. 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 people lives with our Mobile services, Telemedia services, to connecting India's leading 1000+ corporates. We also connect Indians living in USA with our callhome service. The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises, and is India's leading provider of telecommunications services. The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBU.s) - mobile services, broadband & telephone services (B&T) & enterprise services. The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles, while the B&T business group provides broadband & telephone services in 90 cities. The Enterprise services group has two sub-units - carriers (long distance services) and services to corporates. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand. Bharti Airtel is one of India's leading private sector providers of telecommunications services based on an aggregate of 22,069,003 customers as of April 30, 2006, consisting of 20,683,902 GSM mobile and 1,385,101 broadband & telephone customers. Company shares are listed on The Stock Exchange, Mumbai (BSE) and The National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE).

Partners The company has a strategic alliance with SingTel. The investment made by SingTel is one of the largest investments made in the world outside Singapore, in the company. The company also has a strategic alliance with Vodafone. The investment made by Vodafone in Bharti is one of the largest single foreign investment made in the Indian telecom sector. The companys mobile network equipment partners include Ericsson and Nokia. In the case of the broadband and telephone services and enterprise services (carriers), equipment suppliers include Siemens, Nortel, Corning, among others. The Company also has an information technology alliance with IBM for its group-wide information technology requirements and with Nortel for call center technology requirements. The call center operations for the mobile services have been outsourced to IBM Daksh, Hinduja TMT, Teletech & Mphasis. VISION "By 2015 we will be the most loved brand, enriching the lives of millions" MISSION We will meet the mobile communication needs of our customers through:

Error-

free

service

delivery

Innovative products and services

HISTORY AND GROWTH OF AIRTEL

CHAIRMAN Mr. Sunil Bharti Mital

Sunil Bharti Mittal, the founder-chairman of Bharti Enterprises (which owns Airtel), is today, the most celebrated face of the telecom sector in India. He symbolizes the adage that success comes to those who dream big and then work assiduously to deliver it. Sunil Bharti Mittal began his journey manufacturing spare parts for bicycles in the late 1970s. His strong entrepreneurial instincts gave him a unique flair for sensing new business opportunities. In the early years, Bharti established itself as a supplier of basic telecom equipment. His true calling came in the mid 1990s when the government opened up the sector and allowed private players to provide telecom services. Bharti Enterprises accepted every opportunity provided by this new policy to evolve into India's largest telecommunications company and one of India's most respected brands. Airtel was launched in 1995 in Delhi. In the ensuing years, as the Airtel network expanded to several parts of India, the brand came to symbolize the very essence of mobile services.

ACHIEVEMENTS Airtel's journey to leadership began in Delhi in 1995. Since then, Airtel has established itself across India in sixteen states covering a population of over 600 million people. Airtel will soon cover the entire country through a process of acquisitions and green field projects. With a presence in over 1,400 towns, Airtel today has the largest network capacity in the country. In the last nine years Airtel has achieved many firsts and unique records: it was the first to launch nationwide roaming operations, it was the first to cross the one million and the five million customer marks. It was also the first to launch services overseas. There are other 'firsts' credited to Airtel - many of them in the area of innovative products and services. Today, Airtel innovates in to almost everything that it presents to.

PROMOTIONAL TOOLS

The

new

logo

The unique symbol is an interpretation of the a in airtel. The curved shape & the gentle highlights on the red color make it warm & inviting, almost as if it were a living object. It represents a dynamic force of unparalleled energy that brings us and our customers closer. Our specially designed logo type is modern, vibrant & friendly. It signals our resolve to be accessible, while the use of all lowercase is our recognition for the need for humanity. Red is part of our heritage. It is the color of energy & passion that expresses the dynamism that has made airtel the success it is today, in India, and now on the global stage.

Advertisements : In its strategic drive to emotionally connect with the mass market, Airtel has also used cricket, Bollywood and music as carriers. Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Karishma Kapoor have all joined hands with Airtel to create excitement and open up new segments. An unprecedented event marked this phase, when the world famous music composer, A R Rehman - played himself in a successful campaign for Airtel.

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 ring tone in the history of telecommunications. More recently, an evocative positioning 'Express Yourself' was successfully launched taking the ownership of the entire space of communication and strengthening the emotional bond Airtel enjoys with its customers. Unique plans : Airtel has launched unique, customer-friendly handset bundling schemes and innovative tariff options to address all the new segments entering the category. Some fine examples of these are the highly successful Sachin Invitation Plan with a monthly rental of only Rs. 150 and the Airtel 012 plan. Airtel has leveraged its huge strength in the pre-paid segment by constantly innovating with relevant features for the value-conscious customer like Balance on Screen. Another recent example is its path-breaking product, Easy Charge, which brought electronic recharging into the country. Today Easy Charge is fast replacing paper coupons through its multiple benefits of anytime, anywhere and any value recharge, for an amount that could be as low as Rs. 50.

Brand Values : Airtel impacts the lives of millions across India - it gives people the unlimited freedom to communicate so that they can express themselves freely. Airtel's brand values are centered on leadership, performance, trust, care, innovation and sensitivity. These are reflected not just through advertising, but in fact through each interface Airtel has with its customer. CAMPAIGNS : Campaigns like the Leadership campaign, the Quality Time campaign, Magic Dalo, Say Hello launch campaign, the Magic Hai to Mumkin Hai campaign, the A R Rehman Live Every Moment campaign and the new Express Yourself campaign. The Airtel brand has attracted and retained the first customer it acquired in 1995 to the tenth-millionth it acquired in 2005. NEW SCHEMES :

It is a fact that in order to attract new customers & retain old customers a company should have to provide for new and innovative things and that is what has been done by AIRTEL, it continuously provides new schemes in order to attract customers. Live TV Viewing for Airtel:- In order to attract customers Airtel started the service of watching TV channels on the mobile phones at a nominal charges of Rs. 199 /month (only on the EDGE phone). Airtel launches KBL: Airtel announced the launch of Airtel Kaun Banega Lakhpati (KBL), an interactive quiz for all its customers where a customer gets a chance to win 1 lakh rupees. Airtel 'pays' users for staying 'active': As a step to encourage its users to recharge their pre-paid coupons before entering into the grace period, Airtel has launched a special bonanza offer, 'Staying active . . . Always pays'. As per this offer, pre-paid users will get free talk time worth Rs.100 if they recharge their mobile phones with coupons worth Rs.324. Airtel Promotes Performing Arts: Airtel has announced the launch of "Airtel Expressions", a platform to promote and celebrate the various forms of expressions through the medium of performing arts in Delhi. Life-time incoming free scheme: Airtel announced this scheme in order to attract poor customers in which they got the facility where they have to recharge the phone only once in 6 months.

Obj100

Airtel dons a new look, plans to be closer to consumers across the globe
Reason to change
Local Global Need of single powerful and unified face to customers User base 200 Million Presence over 19 Countries

Rebranding of all Companies No. 1 in India and 5th Worldwide

Since Airtel is going global with the acquisition of Zain Telecom, Airtel felt the necessity of changing its logo - ET "The brand needs to speak to different countries... think internationally. The brand has to connect with the youth in the geographies that we are in." - Sunil Mittal

Obj101

Cost efficiency With a brand new look, Airtel promises to deliver anything that

the customer desires anywhere, anytime, with its new positioning, 'Dil jo chahe pass laye'.
In a bid to consolidate its global presence and to promote its offerings in 3G, telecom giant, Airtel has got a new brand identity with a new logo and positioning.

Mittal adds that the brand was so far known as Zain in Africa and Warid in Bangladesh. "Thus, the idea was to give the brand a uniform presence across all these markets. Also, the world is moving towards digitalization. From now, it's also going to be about social media, commerce and 3G. Therefore, keeping the evolution of the telecom

business as well as our expansion in mind, we decided to take brand Airtel to the next level."

Designed by London-based brand agency, Brand Union, the new logo is the letter 'a' in lowercase, 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 embrace 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, continues to represent heritage, energy and passion. The new curved and the gentle highlight almost gives the impression of a living object; at the same time, it represents a dynamic force of unparalleled energy, brings us closer to consumers and is a symbol which will help ensure instant recognition across diverse international markets." Meanwhile, the telecom company's creative partner, JWT has worked on the new positioning, which says, 'Dil jo chahe pass laye'. For Rohit Ohri, managing partner, JWT, it was important to synchronise the logo with positioning. The new positioning is based on Airtel's promise to its customers that it would deliver anything that they desire anywhere. With Airtel moving to the age of data, it was important that its new brand identity reflect the evolution.

Selling the new proposition The new look will be promoted through television, print, outdoor and digital campaigns. While TVCs are currently on-air on various channels, the outdoor campaign is being executed by Madison Media Plus. Airtel has also tied with Digitas and Webchutney for digital promotions.

Speaking about the marketing initiatives, Mohit Beotra, head, brand and media, Bharti Airtel, adds, "There are two television commercials which are already on-air. Apart from this, the new look will also be promoted through newspapers, as well as on outdoor through signage and hoardings. We have also launched a campaign asking people to name the logo. People can answer through SMS as well as online. Based on the positioning, 'Dil jo chahe pass laye', the winner will have his desired fulfilled." Airtel plans to complete the rollout of the entire campaign in Sri Lanka in the next couple of weeks; while in Bangladesh, the campaign will be rolled out in the next 30 days. In the African nations, where the campaign will be executed by Ogilvy, the rollout will be completed by November 24. The campaign will continue until the middle of January next year, and will be followed by other campaigns on new offers from Airtel.

Reliving the past

Airtel made its debut in the business of telecom in 1995 in India, at a time when there were less than 1 million phones, all fixed lines. The initial look of the brand was designed by then national creative director of Rediffusion Y&R, Gullu Sen. According to Sen, who is now the executive vice-chairman and chief creative officer at Dentsu India, when Airtel launched its services in India, it was almost introducing the concept of mobile voice services in the country. Hence, the two 'swoosh' design was developed and the brand was positioned as 'Touch Tomorrow', as it was about taking India into a new era. Sen adds, "The transition of the brand is obvious, as many brands such as Apple and IBM have also evolved in their brand identity. However, the new look is not very edgy." The brand then went through a transition in 2002, when all sub-brands such as Telemedia, DTH, and the Enterprise business were brought under one roof and branded as Airtel. The new look was then designed by Bangaluru-based brand consulting and design company, Ray + Keshavan.

Airtel Positioning (And Repositioning): From Touch Tomorrow to Live Every Moment
Background In late-2002, Bharti Cellular Ltd. (Bharti), Indias largest cellular telephone company released a television commercial (TVC), which despite using the oft-repeated celebrity endorsement route was unusual in terms of its celebrity selection. Instead of using the usual movie stars/sports celebrities, it chose one of the countrys most successful music composers, A.R Rahman (Rahman) to promote its brand. The campaign attracted considerable media attention because this was the first time Rahman had agreed to do a television commercial and also because, Rahman had been paid Rs 10 million1 for the campaign, a sum usually unheard of, for celebrity endorsers in India. The campaign received brickbats as well as bouquets in the media, both for the selection of Rahman and the TVCs execution. However, Bharti claimed to have scored an ace in terms of getting Rahman to compose five exclusive symphonies downloadable as ring tones for Airtel users.

The TVC was a part of the brand repositioning and restructuring efforts for Airtel, as part of which, Bharti changed the brands tagline in early-2002 from Touch Tomorrow to Live Every Moment. The company also decided to undertake a comprehensive brand building program for the company and chose the slogan Unlimited Freedom for the same. Commenting on these changes, company sources said, Airtels brand identity and campaign will now have a new younger and international look and feel that builds on the earlier positioning. Bhartis massive media expenditure plans were no surprise, considering the fact that it was the largest cellular telecom company in the country reaching over 600 million people in 16 (out of 29) states of India. The company posted revenues of Rs 8.48 billion and a net loss of Rs 1 billion in the financial year 2000-01. The Airtel brand (and the pre-paid card service brand, Magic) had top-of-the-mind recall amongst cellular phone users and enjoyed a leadership position in most markets. Industry observers primarily attributed it to Bhartis strong brand building and positioning strategies.

Background Note Sunil Bharti Mittal (S.B. Mittal) laid the foundations of the New Delhi based Bharti Group in the 1970s with a small bicycle-parts business. In 1985, he entered the telecom business by establishing Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL) that manufactured telephonic equipment. In the same year, BTL entered intotechnical collaboration with Siemens AG (Germany) for manufacturing electronic push button telephones. BTL also signed an agreement with Takacom Corporation (Japan) for manufacturing telephone answering machines. Over the years, BTL tied up with leading telephone equipment manufacturers from countries such as South Korea and US The group entered the telecommunication (telecom) industry during the early-1990s (Refer Exhibit I and II for a note on the Indian cellular telephony industry). Bharti Tele-Ventures, a part of Bharti group, offered various telecom services such as fixed line, cellular, V-SAT and Internet services. The operations of Bharti Tele-Ventures were run by four wholly owned subsidiaries. These were Bharti Cellular Ltd. (Cellular), Bharti Telenet Ltd. (Access), Bharti Telesonic Ltd. (Long Distance) and Bharti Broadband Networks Ltd. (Broadband Solutions). The flagship services of the Bharti group included Airtel (cellular), Mantra (Internet Services) and Beetel (telephone instruments). In 1992, Bharti entered the cellular market by launching services in Delhi. Over the next few years, it also entered other telecom circles. In the early 2000s, Bharti invested heavily in the acquisitions and alliances to expand its cellular market in India.

It even announced plans to acquire Usha Martin, the leading cellular service in Kolkata. It also entered into collaborative agreements with BPL to gain seamless access in Mumbai, Maharashtra, Chennai, Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Bharti launched Airtel as a post paid cellular service in Delhi in November 1995. Over the next few years, the company redefined the way cellular services were being marketed in the country. This was made possible due to its innovative marketing strategies, continuous technological upgradations, new value added service offerings and efficient customer service. Initially confined only to the Delhi circle, Airtels services were soon extended to many other places. Through the Airtel brand, Bharti set many benchmarks for the Indian cellular industry. It was the first cellular operator to set up cellular showrooms. The company opened its first showroom Airtel Connect in Delhi, in late-1995

It was not very easy for the company to build Airtel brand. The tariff rates charged by the government were quite high. Cellular players has little choice but to impose high call charges on their customers. Airtime rates were as high as USD 0.4 per minute as against USD 0.65 for landline communication. Thus, all players targeted the premium sector, which could afford the rates. Airtel was also positioned in the premium category, aimed at the elite class of the society. Though industry observers felt that this limited its market and that Bharti could have focused on increasing customer awareness (by explaining to them the various advantages of cellular phones), Bharti thought otherwise. As per a company source, the strategy might not have worked as the value delivered by cellular phones during that phase did not match the cost. During the late1990s, many international players such as Orange announced plans to enter the Indian market. The global telecom market was getting saturated and these companies were searching for countries with untapped potentials to increase their markets. India being one of the fast developing nations with a vast population base was being seen as a high potential market. Apart from international players, many domestic players also entered the segment. This increased the competition in the sector. In the light of these changes, Bharti realized the need for repositioning Airtel to increase its market share. Rather than focusing on the value (delivered by the services), the company chose to address the visual benefits delivered to the customers

In the words Instead of the value-proposition model, they 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.

The Need behind Repositioning the Brand

Result of a brand valuation exercise conducted by the UK-based brand consultancy Brand Finance. The earlier approach was based on the trust, legacy and history. But now the positioning is based on modernity, technology and something appealing to youth of today.

The tastes and fashion change very rapidly these days. And thus there was a need to be at par with the competitors in all aspects.

Changing the logo was one of the decisions in repositioning the brand

Repositioning Airtel

The above realization led to the launch of the Leadership Series campaign, which featured successful men and women with their deluxe cars, carrying laptops and using cell phones. A company source said that the campaign was aimed at positioning Airtel as an aspirational brand, which was meant for leaders and celebrities. The surveys conducted after the launch revealed that people began associating three core benefits with the Airtel brand Leadership, Performance and Dynamism. Other supportive values associated with the brand-included courtesy, politeness and efficiency. The campaign was reportedly successful and resulted in a marginal improvement in Airtels performance. By 1999, Bharti had become the leading cellular player in Delhi (its major market) with a subscriber base of over 0.38 million. However, the growth was still much below the companys expectations. Meanwhile, as the competition in the sector intensified, the government also decided to reduce tariff rates. As a result, the players made all efforts to extend their horizons to reach customers across all sections. Essar, the nearest competitor of Airtel, began offering tariff plans, schemes and services that were identical to that of Airtel. Much to Airtels chagrin, Essars subscriber base began nearing that of Airtel. In early-2000, in its attempt to understand the customers psyche, Airtel conducted many brand tracking exercises. These exercises revealed that though the Leadership campaign had been effective, it failed to attract more customers, as it had failed to add an emotional dimension to the brand. Analysts perceived the brand to be distant, efficient and cold. The brand had become something like Lufthansa cold and efficient. What they needed was to become Singapore Airlines, efficient but also human. The surveys also revealed that the concept of leadership was itself undergoing a transformation. The public increasingly perceived leaders as people who worked with a team to achieve common objectives rather than those who dictated terms to their subordinates. The surveys indicated that 50% of the new subscribers bought a cellular phone service brand on the basis of suggestions made by their friends, colleagues or family members. On account of this information, Bharti realized that its existing customer base could be used to promote the brand and expand its market (as

these customers could endorse the brand) and thus focused on building a close relationship with them. According to company sources, these brand-tracking exercises helped it realize the fact that in a business where customer relationships were of paramount importance, lacking an emotional or humanized touch was a major weakness. Hence, to gain a competitive advantage, Bharti decided to humanize the Airtel brand In August 2000, Bharti launched its new Touch Tomorrow, which aimed at strengthening its relationship with its customers. Bhartis advertisement expenditure for the year amounted to USD 11.5 million. The advertisements spanning the print, electronic and outdoor media (for these campaigns) featured cellular users surrounded by caring family members. Commenting on the rationale behind the new campaign The new campaign and positioning was designed to highlight the relationship angle and make the brand softer and more sensitive. According to company sources, the new positioning was aimed at developing a strong relationship with the customers. Mobile telephony is taken for granted in one of the researches, consumers have described mobile telephony as being kept close to the heart. What is adding a new dimension to the cellular category is the advent of new features like roaming, SMS, and the Net, which are taking communication beyond voice to data and video.

This has tossed a challenge: how to bond with consumers. Explaining the need for repositioning, Sachdev said, Airtel was perceived as a premium brand. The new positioning is intended to add warmth to these attributes. In line with the companys objectives, the new TVCs and advertisements focused on highlighting Airtel as a brand that made it possible for customers to derive all benefits of cellular telephony. The new commercials developed for this campaign reflected humane, aspirational, family-centric and softer brand values while promising easy reach. Bharti also created a new logo for the Airtel brand, which had red, black and white colors with Airtel enwrapped in an eclipse. The tagline Touch Tomorrow was placed below in a lower case typography to convey a warm and informal style (Refer Figure I). The campaign was first rolled out in the states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Chennai. As a part of this campaign, Airtel also shifted its focus from SEC, audiences to SEC B audiences.

The company also increased its Touch Point network (Airtels shop-in-shop points at various departmental stores and lifestyle establishments). In line with its repositioning efforts, Bharti also revamped the entire Airtel network including Airtel Connect centers. As a part of this, Bharti focused on giving a contemporary look to Airtel Connect centers with e-kiosks, facades, collaterals, signages and merchandising material. It also changed the color scheme of these outlets by adopting a coordination of red, black and white to give the outlets a soothing, soft but classy look. The dress code at these outlets was also changed. Men wore black trousers and a white shirt bearing the Airtel logo with and a red tie. While women sported red tops and black trousers with ivory, schiffon scarves. While the Touch Tomorrow campaign was still running, Bharti announced a major brand restructuring exercise at the corporate level. This was done in order to facilitate its entry into new areas of the telecom sector and establish itself as a global telecom brand

In early-2000s, Bharti unveiled a three-tier Airtel brand architecture that was aimed at defining every service with a special brand name and place them under a mother brand. The new branding initiative takes into cognizance the findings that consumers consider Airtel as a brand of the successful people and a preferred address. As a part of the restructuring efforts, the basic telephone services of Bharti were brought under the Touchtel brand and the National Long Distance (NLD) telephony under the IndiaOne brand. Though the cost of creating new brands was high, the company was inclined to create independent brands for its various services.

The Bharti brand and Magic (the prepaid cellular brand) were not included in the Airtel brand architecture, and they continued to operate as distinct brands.

According to company sources, the new structure was aimed at positioning Airtel as the power brand with regional sub-brands reflecting customer needs in various parts of the country. Bharti felt that a single brand name for all cellular operations might not always work in the urban markets, which were heading towards saturation. Moreover, as a more towards product segmentation, the Internet-Interface services (WAP) offered to cellular users were brought under the brand name Tango in 2001.

Bharti also decided to introduce a tariff plan specifically to attract the youth. The service, called Youtopia, planned to cash in on the fact that with reduced tariffs,

cellular phones would become accessible to teenagers. By targeting youth in the agegroup 14-19 years, Bharti planned to expand the customer base, which was presently limited to the older age groups. Youtopia was a clear deviation from Airtels earlier positioning as a brand for older people symbolizing dignity and power. Youtopia offered lower tariff rates at night. Special merchandising exercises were also undertaken. For instance, a special portal was created, where young people could buy or bid for goods. The company also announced plans for providing customers with various other services such as music download facilities, and SMS Short Messaging Service rates at affordable prices. According to the analysts, the companys repositioning strategies paid back well as Bharti became the leading player in most of the circles it operated in across the country in early-2002

As part of its restructuring and repositioning exercise, Bharti unveiled a new brand architecture that replaced the three-tier architecture. The proposed two-tier architecture was categorized under two heads wired and wireless. All the wireless products were placed under the Airtel brand, which also included Tango, Freenet and Magic. According to company sources, the objective of this new architecture was to establish Bharti as a global telecom company. The company reportedly allocated USD 41 Million for media coverage and other brand building activities. Airtels brand identity and campaign will now have a new younger and international look and feel that builds on the earlier positioning of Touch Tomorrow, injected with renewed energy and heightened optimism. According to a Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) report, the cellular market in India was one of the fastest growing market of the decade. As per the report, there were over 8.17 million cellular subscribers in India and the number was expected to grow to over 12 million and 153 million by 2003 and 2010 respectively. With such high potential, almost all the players were seen focusing on their positioning, advertising and promotional efforts and on building strategic partnerships. Bharti was also making efforts to retain its position as the market leader. However, it still remains to be seen whether the latest round of repositioning and the strategic partnerships would help Airtel sustain the competition and retain its leadership in the market. The shift to Live Every Moment from Touch Tomorrow had nevertheless, proved that Bharti is consistently on the lookout for best marketing strategies for Airtel.

"Airtel has gone in for a makeover to further enhance its appeal in eyes of the market. The company is sending out the message that it is capable of catering to the needs of the youthful and global consumers for whom is a mobile as a sophisticated communications and multimedia hub" When branding is properly used, it becomes easier for a company to win the trust of consumers on a grand scale, and that usually translates into higher sales. But over a period of time every market will evolve and the brands have to keep changing their marketing strategies in order to retain their influence. Indias biggest and most successful telecom company, Airtel has recently tried to rebrand itself with a new logo, a new signature tune, which is once again composed by A R Rahman, and a spate of advertisements across different media outlets. By undertaking such a mammoth rebranding exercise, the company is obviously trying to send out the message that it is in tune with the young generation. Focus on Youth The entire focus of the rebranding exercise seems to be on granting the company a rather youthful and global outlook. This is in keeping with the telecom market that Airtel caters to. When the new identity was unveiled on 18th November, last year, Sunil Mittal, the Chairman and Managing Director of the company, said, Fifteen years ago Bharti Airtel started its journey in India with a promise of delivering world class and affordable services. Today, as we expand on the global stage, this new brand identity gives us the opportunity to present a single, powerful and unified face to our customers, stakeholders and partners around the world. It reinforces our promise to deliver innovative services and a superior brand experience to our 200 million customers across Asia and Africa. The new logo has a quite cute looking red coloured swoosh over the word Airtel. Then there is the rather zingy signature ringtone that accompanies the new logo. There is no doubt that the music is much catchier than the earlier ringtone. Apart from that two major ads were also released on TV during the rebranding exercise.

The new logo has a quite cute looking red coloured swoosh over the word Airtel. Then there is the rather zingy signature ringtone that accompanies the new logo. There is no doubt that the music is much catchier than the earlier ringtone. Apart from that two major ads were also released on TV during the rebranding exercise. The new logo and rebranding is going to be strongly emphasized not just in India, but also in countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Seychelles, and Africa, where Zain has

already begun the process of rebranding itself as Airtel. The company is going places. Consumers views There are those who are completely taken by Airtels new look, and there are those who arent. Its, after all, a matter of opinion. Prakash Jha, who works in the BFSI sector says, Though I use Airtel and I am satisfied with their services, I still feel their older logo was better. However, their new signature tune is better than the last one. Gaurav Sharma, Citibank Employee, is left feeling neutral to the logo. He says, The re-branding was required because completion is tough in the telecom sector. To stay ahead of other brands, this was necessary for Airtel. But they also need to come up with some really good offers for consumers. There is no doubt that the new logo, new music and even the latest ads that have been released by the company have created an impact. But there is only so much that any feel of positivism can do to uplift a companys fortunes as rebranding exercises might excite the audience for a short period of time. In the long run, what really matters is performance. It is necessary for a brand to be seen, felt and heard in a positive way, but it is equally important for its products to be satisfying. Another aspect highlighted by this rebranding exercise is the relaunch of the companys offerings. Airtel is trying to re-position itself in a market where consumers have become lot more demanding about what they need from their handheld mobiles. There is no dearth of surveys showing that many more Indians access Internet through their mobiles than through the conventional desktop PC or laptop. The sleek looking new logo, and the catchy new ringtone, does seem to carry an aura of a company, which is firmly in tune with the net-savvy generation. Aashish Mishra, Civil Services aspirant says, The rebranding was certainly required as the old logo was getting stale. Now that the company is looking better, I hope they will also start some better 3G services. That is what we really need. Looks are not that important. What is important is the service at cheaper price. There already exists evidence to show that the cyberspace has accepted the rebranding exercise with open arms. The campaign has gathered lakhs of viewers on YouTube. Millions are said to have downloaded the catchy new ringtone and that is something you would easily expect from any tune composed by the musical genius, A R Rahman. Of course, no one expects Airtel to rest on its laurels. The process of rebranding must go much beyond just tinkering around with the logo and the ringtone. Arpit Mehra, who is employed in telecom sector, says, I dont think that so much money should be spent on re-branding because ultimately the money

comes from customers pocket. But I agree that in comparison to the last logo and ringtone, the current version is more stylish and it seems to be in tune with todays youth. Jatin Kumar, a media professional says, I have been using Airtel since the day I bought my first phone. The new logo focusses on youth, but I found the last one slightly better. The older logo looked more mature and reliable to me. As always, mobile users in India are opinionated. We tend to have a very high expectations from all our companies, especially from a large entity like Airtel. Many consumers would relish the idea of rebranded Airtel much more, once they are able to access super fast 3G networks. So once the hype over the rebranding has faded, it is performance that will matter. Let us hope that the rebranding will also mean a much better service quality from Airtel.

Bibliography
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