branding and customer’s purchase preferences in mobile phone telecommunication for idea cellular...

SOLAPUR UNIVERSITY, SOLAPUR

A

PROJECT REPORT

ON

“A STUDY OF BRANDING AND CUSTOMER’S PURCHASE

PREFERENCES IN MOBILE PHONE TELECOMMUNICATION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO IDEA CELLULAR LTD, AURANGABAD”

SUBMITTED TOSOLAPUR UNIVERSITY, SOLAPUR.

IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OFREQUIREMENTS FOR AWARDING THE DEGREE OF

MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION(M.B.A.)

2009-10

SUBMITTED BY

MR. ANIL S. SALUNKE

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

PROF. MISS. NAMRATA MANE

THROUGH

THE PRINCIPALBHARAT RATNA INDIRA GANDHI COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES,KEGAON, SOLAPUR.

DATE: /11/2009 PRINCIPAL

DEPT.OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES B.I.G.C.E.SOLAPUR


DECLARATION

I them, undersigned, hereby declare that the project report entitled “A Study of

Branding and Customer’s Purchase Preference in Mobile Phone

Telecommunication with Special reference to Idea Cellular, Aurangabad.” Has been

completed under the guidance of Prof. Miss Namrata Mane.

This is my original work and empirical finding in this report are based on data

collected by myself. The report is not copied from any other report submitted to Solapur

University or any other university.

I them, undersigned understands that any such copying is liable to be punished in

any way the university authorities deem fit.

Place: Solapur

Date: /11/2009 MR.ANIL S.SALUNKE



CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project report entitled ““A Study of Branding and Customer’s

Purchase Preference in Mobile Phone Telecommunication with Special reference to

Idea Cellular, Aurangabad.” Submitted by Mr. Anil Sheshrao Salunke in partial

fulfillment of the requirements for the award of MBA degree to Solapur University,

Solapur is a genuine and bonafide work prepared under my supervision and guidance.

To the best of my knowledge and belief the matter presented in this report has not

been submitted earlier to any university for similar purpose.

Place: Solapur

Date: /11/2009 PROF. MISS.NAMRTA

MANE



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project report is the outcome of my summer training at Idea Cellular

Limited, Aurangabad.

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Mr.Narendra Ruchandani

(Asst. Sales Manager) who has directed me in this report and given the valuable

guidance, without whom this project would not have been completed.

I also wish to thank my guide in the Institute Prof. Miss.Namrata Mane

this valuable guidance during preparation of the project.

I am thankful to Mr. M. D. Patil Sir, Principal of “Bharat Ratna Indira

Gandhi College of Engineering, Kegaon, and Solapur”, for permitting me to do

this program and explore my talents.

Place: Solapur

Date: /11/2009



---------------

MR. ANIL SHESHRAO SALUNKE

INDEXINDEX

Chapter Topic Page No.

1. INTRODUCTION TO STUDY 1-111.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Objectives of the study 31.3 Importance of the study 4

1.4 Research Methodology 51.5 Limitations of the study 9

2. ORGANIZATION PROFILE 10-23

2.1 Introduction to the Industry 10

2.2 Company Partners 132.3 Company Values 14

2.4 Introduction of product and Other Product 162.5 Organization chart 222.6 Body Members 23

3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 24-33

3.1 Introduction 24

3.2 Corporate Branding and Brand Management 26

3.3 Factor Affecting Customer Purchase 27

3.8 Customer Characteristics 33

4. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 34-46

5. FINDINGS 47

6. SUGGESTIONS 48

7. BIBLOGRAPHY 50



8. ANNEXURE

INDEX OF TABLEINDEX OF TABLE

TABLE SR.NO

NAME OF TABLE PAGE NO.

1.1 Table showing Information gathered by using

Research Methodology and Questionnaire. 8

4.1Table showing Market share of different Mobile

Telecom companies in Aurangabad city.35

4.2. Table showing no. of customer’s given preference towards the Idea cellular ltd. 36

4.3 Table showing no. of customers given preference to mode of accessing information about SIM card of Idea cellular ltd.

37

4.4 Table showing no. of customer satisfaction level towards Brand as Idea cellular ltd. 39

4.5 Table showing no. of customer’s opinion about loyalty preference of Idea cellular ltd 41

4.6 Table showing customer’s loyalty period for using Idea cellular service 44



4.7 Table showing the no. of customer’s opinion about switching to other companies network

45

INDEX FOR GRAPHINDEX FOR GRAPH

GRAPH.NO NAME OF GRAPH PAGE NO.

4.1Graph showing no. of customers given importance towards services offered by Idea cellular ltd.

38

4.2. Graph showing no. of customer’s opinion about quality of Idea cellular services. 40

4.3

Graph showing no of customers given

preferences towards price or brand while making

a purchase decision.42

4.4 Graph showing no. of customers having impact of price while purchasing Idea cellular service. 43

4.5 Graph showing no. of customer’s opinion about switching from the existing Brand of Idea cellular.

46



TTOPICOPIC 1.I 1.INTRODUCTIONNTRODUCTION T TOO S STUDYTUDY

1.1. I1.1. INTRODUCTIONNTRODUCTION O OFF T THEHE S STUDYTUDY

The Telecommunication sector growing rapidly at a very fast rate. Previously the

cellular phones were considered as a luxury product but now days due to the completion

it is become cheap and also it is become necessary to everyone to communicate each

other.

Telecom is going under dramatic changes. More and more competition is

emerging in Telecom sector. Service quality has become more important rather than

technical aspects in the Telecom sector. Delivering quality services is an essential

ingredient for establishing and maintaining loyal and profitable customer base. Service

quality is “the delivery of excellent or superior services relative to customer

expectations”

Today, the world becomes a global village. Customer need, values, ethics, and

wants are changing. Customer wants different option and alternatives. They want value

for money and the market has shifted to from seller market to the buyer market.

Study has been completed in Idea cellular ltd, Aurangabad. This study is carried

out the Branding and Customer Purchase Preference towards the Idea cellular customer.

This study to understand the consumer behavior and one of the important aspects is to

that for finding consumer’s status and satisfaction level.



Also to study is carried out for to determine the parameter about the services and

to measure the satisfaction of a present customer and to understand their expectations for

the company services.

A service is the action of doing something for someone or something. It is largely

intangible (i.e. not material). A product is tangible (i.e. material) since you can touch it

and own it. A service tends to be an experience that is consumed at the point where it is

purchased, and cannot be owned since is quickly perishes.

It is seen the most of the companies in mobile phone telecommunication promote

more their name than the product/service they offer to the customers. The purpose of this

study is to analyze the role of branding in mobile telecommunication industry and

purchase preference What are reasons that make customers purchase mobile phone

connection of any particular company.

Either it is because of Brand or it is because of the Service, Loyalty, Price or any

other reason.

This study will examine that in mobile phone telecommunication either Brand is

sufficient for a long term customer base, to know about brand and its presence in the

consumer’s mind.

This study shows that organization have to involve strategies to counter the ever

increasing and identifying competition. They look for competitive edge and competitive

strategies. Due to the changing economic scenario, marketing managers have to look new

innovation and create strategies in order to meet the competitive threat positively and

effectively.



Especially it has become necessity for a professionals’, businessmen, company

executives etc. the cellular phone help them to communicate each other.

1.2. O1.2. OBJECTIVESBJECTIVES O OFF T THEHE S STUDYTUDY

1. To know the market share of different Mobile Telecom companies in

Aurangabad city.

2. To study the Buying Behavior of the Customer.

3. To know customer satisfaction level about Idea cellular service.

4. To know the customers preference towards Idea cellular service.

5. To know the Importance of services.

6. To determine the customer’s loyalty preference towards Idea cellular

service.

7. To understand the future expectations from the company.

8. To study different reason for switching from existing brand.



1.3. I1.3. IMPORTANCEMPORTANCE O OFF S STUDYTUDY

1. To attract the customer by using the marketing strategies.

2. The study is covered numerous problem faced by the customer.

3. This study was interacting with customers for solving their problem and to

know the level of customer satisfaction.

4. The study was done keeping in the view of telecom operator but it very much

useful to the idea cellular ltd.

5. To know the purchases preference of the customer form that company can

develop attractive plan in a competitive world.

6. To increase market share of the company.

7. This study is also help to understand the consumers need /demand.

8. This study is helpful for to retain the customers



1.4. R1.4. RESEARCHESEARCH M METHODOLOGYETHODOLOGY

a. PRIMARY DATA

In this project primary data is gathered through questionnaire. The questionnaire is filled

by the sample respondents which consist of citizen of Aurangabad city, who are mobile

phone user of Idea cellular ltd.

The sources of the primary data in this project are idea cellular network users, franchisee

owner and Idea cellular company employees. For the collection of primary data from

customers survey method is followed. It has following advantages.

1] Time saving

2] Reduce cost of enquiry

3] Efforts saving

4] Ensure detailed enquiry

5] Produce more reliable results

b. SECONDARY DATA



Secondary data is the data which is collected for some other purposes or the data which is

gathered by previous researchers. This study includes the secondary data from articles,

books, data bases and internet, magazine Idea cellular Training book.

Internet source: www.ideaccellulkar.com

www.google.com,

www.whereisdoc.com

c. SAMPLING PLAN

1] Sample segment in Aurangabad city region.

2] Sampling Unit: - All Idea cellular Mobile phone connection User

3] Sampling Size: - The sample size of the survey is 100 customers.

d. CONTACT METHOD

After the sampling is done, the numbers collected are called to inform about the

services (tariff plan) which are newly launched by Idea. Then as per the list of

numbers few enquiries are done as in, what rental plan they use, etc.

Then after giving information about these tariff plan services and discussing about

the rental plan for postpaid and prepaid call rates and plan , if the customer is

interested in these services, an appointment is taken from that person to meet

personally and give details information about plan showing their benefits, and

convinced him.

After clarifying all the doubts of the customer if he is interested then collect

details document of the person.


http://www.whereisdoc.com/

http://www.google.com/

http://www.ideaccellulkar.com/


By taking all this information, after getting C.V. positive services are been

activated through customer care.

ee. D. DATAATA C COLLECTIONOLLECTION T TOOLSOOLS

There are many tools available for gathering data but it depends upon question and

purpose of study that which tool is used for study. Instruments of research include

interview, observation, survey and questionnaire.

1. INTERVIEW:

Interview is very important and reliable tools for data collection .Most of the interviews

are open ended in nature, which are used for qualitative study. Mostly I have used this

interview method for that customer cannot understand the Questionnaire and Those who

are in the Employee of the Idea Cellular Company.

2. SURVEY:

Survey tool requires questions and answers of these questions are being used for analysis,

it is more efficient and cost saving than observations and it is also easy.

There are many mediums available for data collection and survey, which can be a

telephone, email or direct interaction with respondent.



3. QUESTIONNAIRE:

A questionnaire was prepared keeping a layman in mind so that customer can understand

the question easily without any confusion so that they could provide the right

information. The questions are prepared keeping in the mind of the company’s

requirement from the survey.

Questionnaires include the two types of questions.

a) Close-ended questions : - Close-ended questions specify all the possible answers which are easier to interpret and tabulate.

b) Open-ended questions: - Open-ended questions allow to respondents to answer in their own words and often reveal more about how people think and response.

Table below give a little glance of the Information which will be gathered by using above

tools and Questionnaire.

Topic Specific Information investigated

General Information Gender information

Mobile connection

Type of connection

Brand, Service & Quality, Price,

Loyalty & Trust

Brand Attachment with the brand

Customer satisfaction

Brand Switching information

Service & Quality Satisfaction for service and quality

Connection chosen and importance

of service

Switching information

Price Importance of price



Impact of price on purchase

decision

Switching due to price

Price paid for services

Loyalty & Trust Time since using this particular

brand

Loyalty with brand or loyalty with

services

Trust preferences

Runoff from existing brand

Table1.1

1.5. L1.5. LIMITATIONSIMITATIONS O OFF S STUDYTUDY

1. The study was restrictive to ‘Idea cellular ltd, Aurangabad’ only.

2. The data is based on past records, so it cannot predict future.

3. The main important limitation of the study is time factor, study was completed

within 50 days only.

4. Due to secrecy, several data does not disclosed by the Company.

5. Sample space is 100 in Aurangabad city area Osmanpura side.



6. The information given by customers is assumed as genuine.

TOPIC 2. ORGANIZATION PROFILE

2.1. INTRODUCTION TO THE INDUSTRY

As India’s leading GSM mobile services operator, IDEA Cellular has licenses to operate

in 23 circles. As of now, Idea Cellular Limited is operating in 16 circles. With a customer

base of over 40 million in 15 service areas, IDEA Cellular has operations in Delhi,

Maharashtra & Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh,

Uttaranchal, Haryana, UP-West, Himachal Pradesh, UP-East, Punjab, Karnataka,

Rajasthan, Bihar and Kerela. Operations are soon expected to start in Orissa and Tamil

Nadu-the first steps in providing pan India services covering over 90% of India's

telephony potential. IDEA Cellular’s footprint currently covers approximately 45%of

India’s population and over 50% of the potential telecom-market.

As a leader in Value Added Services, Innovation is central to IDEA’S VAS factory. It is

the first cellular company to launch music messaging with ‘Cellular Jockey’, Background

Tones’, ‘Group Talk’, a voice portal with ‘Say Idea’ and a complete suite of mobile e-

mail services. A frontrunner in introducing revolutionary tariff plans, IDEA Cellular has



the distinction of offering the most customer friendly and competitive Pre Paid offerings,

for the first time in India, with ‘Super Power’, 2 minutes outgoing free, lifelong offer and

other segmented offerings like Women’s card. ‘Lifetime Idea’ is the first and only loyalty

program, for pre paid customers, introduced by a cellular brand.

Customer service and innovation are the drivers of this cellular brand. A brand known for

their many firsts, Idea is only operator to launch GPRS and EDGE in the country. Idea

has received international recognition for its path-breaking innovations when it won the

GSM Association Award for "Best Billing and Customer Care Solution" for 2

consecutive years.

Idea Cellular is part of the Aditya Birla Group, which is India’s first truly multinational

corporation. The group operates in 25 countries, and is anchored by over 1, 25,000

employees belonging to 25 nationalities. The Group has been adjudged 'The Best

Employer in India and among the Top 20 in Asia' by the Hewitt-Economic Times and

Wall Street Journal Study 2007

Global in vision, rooted in Indian values, the group is driven by a performance ethic

pegged on value creation for its multiple stakeholders. The combined holding of the

Aditya Birla Group companies in Idea stands at 98.3%. Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla has

been named the chairman of the company. Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd. Holds 35.7%, Birla

TMT Holdings Ltd. 44.9%, Grasim 7.5% and Hindalco 10.1% in Idea.

OUR MISSION



IDEA CELLULAR LTD

NAME : Idea Cellular Ltd,Aurangabad

ADDRESS : Plot No 9,Rajendra Bhavan ,Adalat Road, Next to

L.I.C.Bldg,Aurangabad-341 050.

FOUNDER : Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla

COO : Mr. P.Lakshminarayana,



BRANCHES : 1 Branch Office And 4 My Idea Franchise

ASM : Mr.Damodhar Shinoy

ESTABLISHMENT : Year 1992

EMPLOYEE : 1000(Aurangabad)

2.2. OUR PARTNERS

Kodiak Ltd

Mauj

Net4nuts India Ltd

Yahoo

Rediff

Indiatimes

Mobile2win

Sify

NDTV

Roamware.inc


http://www.kodiaknetworks.com/

http://www.mauj.com/

http://www.net4nuts.com/main/index.htm

http://in.yahoo.com/

http://www.rediff.com/

http://www.mobile2win.com/

http://sify.com/

http://www.ndtv.com/

http://www.roamware.com/


Starhome

Bharti Telesoft

Nokia - Siemens

Ericsson

Atos Origin

Onmobile Asia Pacific Ltd

2.3. OUR VALUES

VALUES WE VALUE :

Integrity - Honesty in every action

At Aditya Birla Group, Integrity is defined as: Acting and taking decisions in a manner

that is fair, honest, following the highest standards of professionalism and also perceived

to be so. Integrity for us means not only financial and intellectual integrity, but in all

other forms as are commonly understood.

key words that connote Integrity are:

Ethical

Truthful

Principled

Transparent

Upright


http://www.starhome.com/

http://www.bhartitelesoft.com/

http://www.nokia.co.in/

http://www.siemens.com/

http://www.ericsson.com/in/

http://www.atosorigin.com/

http://www.onmobile.com/


Respectful

Commitment - deliver on the promise

At Aditya Birla Group Commitment is defined as: On the foundation of integrity, doing

whatever it takes to deliver value to all stakeholders. In the process, taking ownership of

our actions and decisions, those of our team and that part of the organization that we are

responsible for.

Key words that connote commitment are:

Accountability

Discipline

Responsibility

Result -orientation

Self-confidence

Reliability

Passion - energized action

At Aditya Birla Group Passion is defined as: A missionary zeal arising out of emotional

engagement with the organization that makes work joyful and inspires each one to give

his or her best. Relentless pursuit of goals and objectives with the highest level of energy

and enthusiasm, that is voluntary and spontaneous.

Key words that connote passion are:



Intensity Innovation Transformational Fire-in-the-belly Inspirational Deep sense of purpose

Key words that connote Seamlessness are:

Teamwork

Integration

Involvement

Openness

2.4. INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE PRODUCT

Product are comes in the market pre-paid and post-paid can be applied for off-

the self and one can start using it right away. In prepaid there is no security deposit or

monthly rental but in post-paid customers have to paid security deposit and monthly

rental also. This cards can brought from any outlets of the IDEA retailer.

1. SUBSCRIBER IDENTITY MODULE (SIM) SIM provides mobile equipment with identity

Without SIM ,mobile is not operational (except for emergency call)

SIM is smart card and has memory chip permanently installed in plastic card

Type SMS storage

Contact Nos. storage

Charges Utility

8k 10-15 110-125 NA Prepaid-Postpaid

16k 15-25 125-250 100+ service tax Prepaid

32k 30-40 200-250 50+service tax Postpaid

64k 30-40 200-250 Specially loaded for group talk facility -FOC



A smaller version of SIM ,called plug in SIM also available

TABLE 2.1

SIM FIG-2.1

SIM –Subscriber Identity Module (20 Digit)

89 91 24 00 00009040586 7

PIN

Personal Identification number – SIM security feature, a 4 digit Number, 1234 is a

default PIN .It is safe if the subscriber changes the number , one gets 3 attempts to enter

a correct PIN however it enter wrongly thrice it block SIM card temporarily & ask for

master PIN or PUK code.

PUK

Pin Unlocking key is an 8 digit number & is unique for each SIM card, subscriber cannot

change the PUK code number .It can viewed in BSCS .The subscriber has 7 attempts to

enter the correct PUK .if an incorrect PUK is an entered for over 7 times the card get

blocked permanently & subscriber has to go for an exchange the SIM.

PIN Ι Ι

PIN Ι Ι: Related to the handset 4090 (by default)

PUK Ι Ι

PUK Ι Ι: to unlock PIN Ι Ι 50900905 (by default) 8 digit.


SIMDesignator

Country Code

Operator code

Switch code

Unique SIM No

Check Digit

UNIQUE SIM NUMBERPLATINUM PLATE


PIN Ι Ι / PUK Ι Ι: On 32k SIM is different & can be checked in BSCS & I care.

Mobile Number:

All Mobile No. in India 10 Digit the No. of a digit a mobile number has different

from country to country. Each digit has number denotes the following.

9848646400 / 9922646400 / 9824646400 / 9889646400

9 Stands for value added services like pagers and cell phones.

8/9 Stands for cellular telephony.

48/22/24/89 Stands for operator code “646400” is the mobile Number.

2.IDEA NET SETTER USB :(DATA CARD)

Idea Cellular has launched the new Net Setter EG612 USB Modem (usable with

both desktops & Laptops) with data, & SMS facility. It is a conveniently slim &

stylish solution for internet access on the move. USB modem is a dedicated data

access (GPRS) device to be used with desktops / laptops for wireless internet

(GPRS) access.


http://www.ideacellular.com/IDEA.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=IDEA_Page_GPRS#netsetter

http://www.ideacellular.com/IDEA.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=IDEA_Page_GPRS#netsetter


Idea Net Setter is a terminal available for high-speed wireless network access,

with which the users can access the Internet in the wireless way at home, office,

outdoor sites and so on.

The Idea Net Setter supports the following standards:

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)

General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)

Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE)

The Idea Net Setter supports the following services:

Data service

Short message service (SMS)

The EDGE peak rate and effective peak rate are 247kbit/s and 236.8 kbit/s

respectively; the GPRS peak rate is 85.6 kbit/s.The IDEA Net Setter is connected

to a portable computer or PC by a USB interface. In the service area of the

EDGE/GPRS/GSM network, user can wirelessly surf the Internet, send/receive

messages and emails. With the high speed, reliable performance, and easy

operation of the IDEA Net Setter, the users can enjoy much more in experiencing

network.

FEATURES



GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850 MHz/900 MHz/1800 MHz/1900 MHz

Global roaming

GRPS/EDGE Class1~Class12

Data and SMS capabilities.

SMS services (group sending and editing the extra-long messages)

Plug & Play function, Zero CD installation

SIM-lock function

3.VEHICLE TRACKING SYSTEM

VTS enables businesses to keep track of their fleets of vehicles through a VTS unit

installed in a vehicle. VTS unit has a GPS device (to take the location coordinates),

GSM modem (which is programmed to initiate an outgoing SMS / GPRS session) and

a GSM SIM card.

The GPS receiver captures position data from the satellites, computes the position of

the vehicle and sends this information to a central base station, using SMS / GPRS.

This information is collected by web-server at the base station & location information

is plotted using GIS maps.



Idea Cellular Ltd. plays the role of a carrier in this application. Hence, Idea’s scope

includes providing GPRS & SMS services with appropriate tariff. Providing hardware

for Vehicle tracking unit, software for input and output of data at the vehicle level as

well as at corporate customer’s end, and managing all allied services related to the

same falls in the scope of a vendor/service provider. This vendor is usually engaged by

the customer directly, though Idea can give recommendation of preferred partners.

4.BLACKBERRY SERVICE:


http://www.ideacellular.com/IDEA.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=IDEA_page_Blackberry&displayParam=Handset_8700G.html


BlackBerry

BLACKBERRY INTERNET SERVICE1. Meets the needs of individuals and smaller businesses

(does not require a messaging server or BlackBerry Enterprise Server)

2. No set up costs

3. No need for an IT department

4. Quick and simple set up!

5. Push technology

6. Option to add up to 10 email accounts

7. Work email account access

8. Email account settings and icons for each account

9. Optional BlackBerry email address

FEATURES

Save and edit attachments in their native file format

View HTML email messages

Integrate AOL® Mail and Windows Live™ Hotmail® accounts, which are now

consistent with other account integrations, such as Yahoo! Mail.

2.5. ORGANIZATION CHART


CIRCLE HEAD

BOARD OF DIERECTOR

GENRAL MANAGER

http://www.ideacellular.com/IDEA.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=IDEA_page_Blackberry&displayParam=Handset_8700G.html


2.6. BODY MEMBERS

Board of Directors

Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla (Chairman)Mr. Arun ThiagarajanMs. Tarjani VakilMr. Mohan Gyani

Management Team


DEPUTY MANAGER

REGIONAL MANAGER

ZONAL MANAGER

DISTRICT MANAGER

AREA MANAGER

TERRITORY MANAGER

SALES EXECUTIVE


A. Corporate Leadership Team

Mr. Sanjeev Aga, Managing DirectorMr. Akshaya Moondra, Chief Financial Officer Mr. Anil K. Tandan, Chief Technology OfficerMr. Prakash K. Paranjape, Chief Information OfficerMr. Pradeep Shrivastava, Chief Marketing OfficerMr. Navanit Narayan, Chief Service Delivery OfficerMr. Vinay K. Razdan, Chief Human Resource Officer Mr. Rajat K. Mukarji, Chief Corporate Affairs OfficerMr. Rajesh K. Srivastava, Chief Materials & Procurement OfficerMr. Ambrish Jain, Director - OperationsMr. Himanshu Kapania, Director – Operations

B. Circle Heads

Mr. Iyer Subbaraman S., Chief Operating Officer, Andhra PradeshMr. Atul Chaturvedi, Chief Operating Officer, Delhi & HaryanaMr. T. G. B. Ramakrishna, Chief Operating Officer, KeralaMr. Sashi Shankar, Chief Operating Officer, MumbaiMr. P.Lakshminarayana, Chief Operating Officer, Maharashtra & GoaMr. Virad Kaul, Chief Operating Officer, Uttar Pradesh (West) Mr. Naozer Firoze Aibara, Chief Operating Officer, Uttar Pradesh (East) Mr. Sunil Kataria, Senior Vice President - Operations, Rajasthan

TTOPICOPIC 3.T 3.THEROTICALHEROTICAL F FRAMERAME W WORKORK

3.1. INTRODUCTION

Brands have held a significant value beyond product and service offerings for a very long

time; a brand is repository of reputation for a company; it impasses the look and feel,

communication (by the company and by people about the company), and the overall user

performance (both physical and emotional) across the company touch points.



Organizations develop brands as a way to attract and keep customers by promoting value,

image, prestige, and lifestyle. By using a particular brand, consumer develops positive

image about the brand.

Branding is a technique to capture consumers psychologically. Organizations are taking

advantage of psychology of human beings by developing attractive brands. Discuss four

brands.

Corporate branding in service sector is quite a difficult task. It is basically blend of

functional and emotional values. Like brand image is the central component of branding

as it reflects the meaning that consumers attach with the brand. And especially in service

sector there must be presence of corporate in service brands because service brand values

appear to be most salient for consumers at corporate level

The old saying that “a good product sells itself”. But now a day’s most of the

customers only use product/service for the brand. So brands are considered as key

organizational asset.

Excellent service is a profitable strategy because it results in more new customers,

more business with existing customers and fewer lost customers. Superior service quality

can help firms become more profitable and help them sustain a competitive advantage in

their served market. Service quality serves as a base for customer satisfaction and this

high level of satisfaction leads to customer loyalty and increased customer loyalty is the

single most driver of long-term financial health.

Organizations stress further on brands in order to achieve consumer loyalty and

trust because consumers are highly considered, but there is little knowledge available to

practitioners and academics about it brand is a vital interpreter of consumer loyalty

suggest that, when brand observed as totality, values, utilitarian and symbolic by

consumers, this creates loyalty in consumers.



Price has been observed as an important element affecting products and services offered

by an organization. Pricing becomes more important for a new product or service.

Satisfaction is a highly important factor to predict price sensitivity of a mobile phone

consumer

3.2. CORPORATE BRANDING AND BRAND MANAGEMENT:

CORPORATE BRANDING



“Corporate branding represents an opportunity for organizations to enhance and

sustain their distinctiveness through linking corporate characteristics to products

and services, thereby, allowing unique synergies to be developed”.

1. BRAND AWARENESS:

Brand awareness is the consumers ability to recognize or recall (identify) the

brand within a given product category in sufficient detail to make a purchase decision.

This also means that the consumer can propose, recommend, choose, or use the brand.

The objective of most advertising campaigns is to create and maintain brand preferences.

Brand awareness is equated with “Brand name recall” it consists simple identifying

features such as the logo. Consumer purchase decision is made weather is name

reorganization this influences the purchase decision.

2.BRAND ATTITUDES:

Brand attitudes is the consumer’s evaluation and expression of inner felling that

reflect the consumers is favorably or unfavorably pre deposited towards the brand. To

meet a need or want. This depends on three closely related components

1. cognitive (awareness, knowledge )2. affective (liking, preferences)3. behavioral (trail, purchase)

3. BRAND MANAGEMENT:



Commitment for corporate branding is high in the sector of media and

telecommunication, especially among top level management. Brand management is an

integrated process which comprises of four main levels i-e planning, organizing, guiding

and controlling.

Planning is the most important factor for corporate branding for example branding team,

brand name decision, branding strategies etc.

Brand management depends upon innovation, in terms of better and smart services with

unique promotional mix, new prices and consumer demanded availability.

Brand is a very difficult task, there is no proper definition for the brand, and it can be

product, corporation, any person or any place.

3.3. FACTOR AFFECTING CUSTOMER PURCHASE PREFERENCE IN TELECOMMUNICATION

In mobile telecommunication, purchase settings are continuous and different than

the purchase settings of retails stores etc. In this industry most of the customers maintain

long term relationships with the operators. Where factors like trust, image, and

satisfaction are not easy to measure. But also factors like switching are easy to measure

because in this industry switching is more than simply walking to another Store.

A customer has brand building in his mind through the process of controlled and

uncontrolled communication.

Today, for every operator has critical question for its success is that how it can maintain

its current customers and how it can make them loyal to the brands. Loyal customers pay

important role in building businesses by making different moves like buying more, by

paying premium prices and most importantly providing companies different sets of new

customers by positive word of mouth.

In fact telecommunication companies lose their customer quite regularly. So it’s

very challenging task for the mobile phone operators to retain existing customers as well

as bringing new customers towards their brands and creating loyalty in them.

1. SERVICE QUALITY



Service quality is the overall judgment of the customer about the excellence and

superiority of the service. As there are some basic attributes associated with service

quality like; services are intangible, services are heterogeneous (means that their price

often varies with respect to the provider and customer), services can not be stored means

that services are consumed with they are produced; it means services can not be separated

from their production. The degree of perceived risk is highest when customer can not

evaluate the service quality before purchasing.

Service satisfaction is among the most important factors which affect the customer

loyalty and buying behavior. It has a direct relationship between price of the product or

service being offered by a firm or Operator.

Improving service quality in the eyes of the customer creates “true customer” through

high customer satisfaction. Fundamental aim of every telecom operator is to seek and

manage customer satisfaction.

There are two main things that explain contribution of the service for the profitability of

the firm; first service quality and second service quality enhances the customer’s

inclination to buy again, buy more, to buy other services, to become less price sensitive

and to tell others about their favorable experiences All these have positive effect on

customer loyalty.

2. BRAND IMAGE

It is very fast era, in these days information about corporation and news from all over the

world can spread within few minutes which effects reputation of corporate image and

ultimately corporate brand. Corporate brand seldom convey the full and satisfactory

message to consumer. There must be a symbol associated with brand name so audience

has memorable associations. Brand manager needs to take a different view of

promotional activities of a particular brand, as consumer reacts differently, when he has

knowledge of a specific brand.

In corporate branding, corporate brand must be strong, have meaning, distinctive

associations and good reputation that a customer easily recognize. “Corporate identity



should consistently relate to what is central to the organization and this can support

corporate branding” corporate image helps a firm to build up good

Reputation in the market and it is the trust of the customers with output of expected

attributes.

3. CUSTOMER LOYALTY

“A deeply held commitment to re-buy or re-patronize a preferred product/service

consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same brand-set

purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having potential to cause

switching behavior”.

Corporate name recognition, the product image, corporate reputation and corporate

loyalty/commitment helps the consumer to value a product of a particular company. In

GSM mobile phone sector the main condition for protecting subscriber base is to win

customer loyalty. Customer loyalty is key necessity for maintaining brand’s life over a

long period. And to achieve this aim companies must measure customer satisfaction and

trust time to time.

Trust is a stronger emotion than satisfaction and that it may therefore better predict

customer retention. There exists a consistent relationship between service provider and

customer loyalty through trust. Trust is a process that is based on the ability of a party to

continually meet its obligations and on estimation of the costs versus rewards of staying

in the relationship. Therefore to trust a brand, customers should not only focus on the

positive outcomes delivered by the product/service brand but customer should also keep

it in mind that these positive outcomes will continue in the future. And this will also have

positive impact on the service provider.



4. PRICE

In marketing research all P’s of marketing mix are important but to make it clear and

valid, involve only one P or maximum two Ps from marketing mix So this research

includes one P which is pricing and is more important in service sector, because

consumer have to pay every time when he/she consumes a particle service. So this is the

most critical factor in obtaining, more loyal customers. “There are several factors which

will probably influence your organization are pricing policy, factors such as, the

competitor’s price, the position of the product in the life cycle, company positioning

policy, perceived level of differentiation and perceived value and so on”.

4. A) PRICING STRATEGIES

There are three basic competitive strategies for pricing which are described by follow.

1- Cost leader ship- Cost leader ship is the first strategy to get the competitive

advantage. In this strategy leader set a price less than its competitors and making profits.

These profits are less but competitors are losing money, if they do not have cost equal top

leader. Cost leader has lower cost than other companies and high volume production is its

advantage. Companies also get competitive advantage through differentiation pricing

strategy.

2- Differentiation- The third competitive strategy is focused strategy. This strategy can

implement in a situation when a company has one particular segment and mainly this

strategy is used in niche marketing.

3- Focus- This strategy can implement in a situation when a company has one particular

segment and mainly this strategy is used in niche marketing.

This strategy is divided into two sub categories. One is focused cost leader ship and other

is focused differentiation, in focused cost leadership market leader has high volume

production which causes low cost and company y charge relatively low price of products.



Focused differentiation Strategy, Company has some different feature then competitors in

a niche market or in a specific segment.

Following Seven other pricing strategies are available which are described by

1. Market skimming - Market skimming is a high price strategy which is mostly used

for a new product and has something innovative to market. Customers demand this

product/service even then, when price is high.

2. Market penetration- Market penetration strategy is used, when a company needs to

gain high market share and acceptance of product/service. In this situation price is set

slightly low than competitors.

3. Loss leader- Loss leader is a product, whose price is low, to attract customers for other

products in one place

4. Complementary pricing Complements are also products that are normally sold

alongside another product. And most of the time is free or having a nominal price.

5. Satisfying-There is a very thin profit in satisfying pricing strategy because in this

strategy price is set to earn very low profit in a high competition environment. Cost is the

key element in setting satisfying price. There is a little difference between cost and price

to be charged

6. Value pricing -Value pricing, name suggest that a customer is receive value from

product/service and willing to pay equal to value received.

7. Market pricing-Market price is set to by market; mainly depend upon the supply and

demand of market, which is usually used in agricultural products.



If a service provider has larger net work then it has high market share. Price effect all

service providers but it effects more, when service providers have same coverage and

same services while Consumer has its own preferences in the process of choosing a

service. Larger network has advantage of on net discounts and also enjoy a high market

share. Price discrimination of on net discounts attracts more and more customers toward

on net discounts.

5. SWITCHING

Switching is basically the cost involved in switching from one service provider to

another. Switching cost is not only the cost in monetary terms but it can also be the sum

of economic, psychological and physical costs. This may also include the time involved

in switching from one service provider to another.

This switching cost stems from the buyer’s decision making process and the then

implementation of the decision. This five stage decision making process includes;

Need recognition

Information search

Evaluation of the alternatives

Purchase decision

Post purchase behavior

For example a customer considering switching cost should ideally evaluate operators

with regard to different criteria, such as coverage area, billing procedures, customer

services or added values, purchasing a new GSM service the customer wants to switch

the brand then he/she will compare the switched brand and the previous brand. Therefore



if the switched brand is better than the previous brand then higher will be the alternative’s

uncertainty.

3.4.CUSTOMER PURCHASE CHARACTERISTICS

1. CULTURAL FACTORS

Each culture consists of smaller subcultures that provide more specific identification &

socialization for their members. Subcultures that include nationalities, racial group, &

Geographic regions other indicators such as occupation, education, and area of residence.

2. SOCIAL FACTORSSocial factors also influence the buying behaviors the factors such as Reference groups,

Family, & Social roles &Statuses.

3. PERSONAL FACTORS

Buyer’s decisions are also influenced by personal characteristics. These

include the buyer’s age and stage in the life cycle, occupation, economic circumstances,

and self-concept.

4. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS:

Persons buying choices are influenced by four major psychological factors-

motivation, perception, learning, &attitudes.

PurchaserCharacteristics

PurchaserDecision Process

Purchaser Decisions

CulturalProblem Recognition

Product choice

SocialInformation Search

Brand choice

PersonalEvaluation of Alternatives

Dealers Choice

PsychologicalPurchase Decision

Purchase Timing

Post PurchaseBehavior

PurchaseAmount



TABLE 3.1

TTOPICOPIC.4. D.4. DATAATA A ANALYSISNALYSIS A ANDND I INTERPRETATIONNTERPRETATION

Aurangabad is the target population. Questionnaire started with a basic question that

either he/she is a religion of an Aurangabad city or not with age and gender information.

The total sample population is in Aurangabad city. Out of 230 respondent, 122 (53%)

were female while 108 (47%) were male. Ratio of female and male is almost equal to

avoid biasness. According to research topic respondent were asked that do they have a

mobile phone connection and used four main service providers as reference. Out 230

respondent 100 respondents were using Idea cellular mobile phone connections.



4.1. Table showing Market share of different Mobile Telecom companies in

Aurangabad city.

Sr.No. Name of Company No. Of. Respondent Percentage 1 Idea 100 44 %2 Airtel 55 24 %3 Reliance 25 11 %4 Vodaphone 40 17 %5 Tata Indicom 10 4 %Total 230 100%

TABLE 4.1

INTERPRETATION

From the above Table it is observed that 44% of the respondent using Idea cellular ,24%

of the respondents is using Airtel, 17% of the respondents are using vodaphone, 11% of

the respondents using Reliance were 4% of the respondents using the Tata Indicom

mobile connection.



4.2. Table showing no. of customer’s given preference towards the Idea cellular ltd.

Sr.No. Opinion No. Of. Respondent Percentage 1 Company Name(Brand) 10 10 %2 Service and Quality 35 35 %3. Loyalty and Trust 15 15 %4. Price 40 40 %Total 100 100 %

TABLE 4.2

INTERPRETATION

From the above Table it is observed that 40% respondent given preference to price ,35%

of the respondents given preference towards Service, 15% of the respondent given

preference towards Loyalty and Trust and only 10% of the respondents given preference

towards companies Brand of the Idea cellular ltd.



4.3. Table showing no. of customers given preference to mode of accessing information about SIM card of Idea cellular ltd.

Sr. No. Mode of access No. Of. Respondent Percentage 1 Internet 35 35%2 Dealer 40 40%3. Advertising 20 20%4. Existing user 5 5%Total 100 100%

TABLE 4.3

INTERPRETATION

From the above Table it has been observed that 40% of respondents are getting

information from dealer, 35% of respondent are getting information from Internet, 20%

of respondent are getting information from Advertisement were 5% of respondent are

getting information from existing customer of a Idea cellular.



4.1. Graph showing no. of customers given importance towards services offered by Idea cellular ltd.



GRAPH-4.1

4.4. Table showing no. of customer satisfaction level towards Brand as Idea cellular ltd.



Sr. No. Choice No. Of. Respondent Percentage 1 Satisfied 59 59%2 Dissatisfied 41 41%Total 100 100 %

TABLE 4.4

INTERPRETATION

From the above Table it is observed that 59% of the respondents are satisfied were 41% of respondents are dissatisfied with brand of Idea cellular ltd.

4.2. Graph showing no. of customer’s opinion about quality of Idea cellular services.



GRAPH-4.2

4.5. Table showing no. of customer’s opinion about loyalty preference of Idea cellular ltd



Sr. No. Opinion No. Of. Respondent Percentage 1 Brand 09 09%2 Service 36 36%3 Both 55 60%Total 100 100 %

TABLE 4.5

INTERPRETATION

From the above Table it is observed that 55% of respondent given preference to Brand as well as Service,36% of respondent give the preference service were remaining 9% of respondent shows there preference Brand of idea cellular ltd.

4.3. Graph showing no of customers given preferences towards price or brand while

making a purchase decision.



GRAPH-4.3

4.4. Graph showing no. of customers having impact of price while purchasing Idea cellular service.



GRAPH-4.4

4.6. Table showing customer’s loyalty period for using Idea cellular service



Sr.No. Period No. Of. Respondent Percentage 1 One year 12 12%2 Two Year 10 10%3. Three Year 18 18%4. Four year 16 16%5 Five and more year 44 44%Total 100 100 %

TABLE 4.6

INTERPRETATION

From the above Table it has been observed that the 43% of respondents using this Brand

form more than 5 years, 17% of respondents using since 3 years, 16% of respondents

using this service from 4 years and 12% of respondents were using this facilities from 2

years, were remaining 10% respondent were using this service from last 1 year.

4.7. Table showing the no. of customer’s opinion about switching to other companies network



Sr. No. Choice No. Of. Respondent Percentage1 Yes 64 64%2 No 36 36%Total 100 100 %

TABLE 4.7

INTERPRETATION

From the above Table it is observed that 64% of the respondents replied YES for

switching of other network were 36% of respondents said NO.



4.5. Graph showing no. of customer’s opinion about switching from the existing Brand of Idea cellular.

GRAPH-4.5



TTOPICOPIC.5..5. FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS

After analyzing and interpreting the data obtained through questionnaire and personal

interview, the following points were found out

1. It is being observed that in telecom battle day by day Idea cellular is increasing its

subscriber in the Market.

2. It is being observed that Idea cellular having good Brand Image in the market

due to effective services, so the most of the market share is captured by Idea

cellular in Aurangabad city.

3. It is being observed that most of the customers can switch due to Promise breakage,

Less services quality, Charge high price as compare to other network.

4. It is being observed that most of the customers are price sensitive because most of

the customer gives preference only price, they avoid giving preference to loyalty

and trust about the Idea cellular services.

5. It is being observed that majority of customer are given preference to price then service

and quality and lastly Brand at the time of Purchases Idea cellular service. It means

customer don’t give priority to Brand.

6. It is being observed that few of the customers are perceived Idea cellular services

are charging high prices as compare to other competitors.

7. It is being observed that most of .Customers given preference to mode of accessing

information through Dealers about SIM card of Idea cellular ltd.

8. It is being observed that most of Customers using Idea cellular ltd from last five years

and they are satisfied about the Brand, Service, and Price also.



TTOPICOPIC.6..6. SUGGESTIONS

1. Since the competition in the telecom market is increasing at a fast rate, it has become

necessary to not only cope up with the competitors, but also find a way to go far ahead of

them.

2. Because of only one fixed tariff plan, many of the potential customers are moving to

other competitors; such as Vodafone and Airtel, as they have better plans in cheap rates.

So for Idea cellular service is necessary to come up with different plans which could

capture all the potential customers and also could churn the customers from other

competitors to Idea cellular’s network.

3. To keep a good database (sales leads) of potential customers and trying to convert those

by keeping a constant follow up and providing good plans.

4. Today’s area T.V and F.M. are becoming most popular media for Advertising so Idea

cellular may shows their Advertisements of Value Added services(VAS) as well as

Plans, as this will give more return on advertisement spending.

5. Most of the customers don’t want company’s promotional calls and messages, so it is

advisable to activate DND facilities for such customers at the time of purchase itself.

6. Most of the customers are not getting the Low price vouchers in nearby stores, so

Voucher cards should be made available in all the retail shops on time for customer as per

their convenience.

7. Company can Lunches new plan(offer) for attracting youngsters like as provide free SIM

for College student with minimum recharge from that company share can increase.

8. Even though the company has some offers or other value added services, it can be well

known by the sales people. So it is better to provide adequate training to the sales people.



9. To ensure better customer satisfaction & maintain higher level of Customer relationship

management, the billing department has to be more effective & efficient.

10. Most Important Thing is that company may reduce SMS Charge for attracting Young

generation because for sending Single SMS only 1kb Memory is used and it will be send

in less than 1sec. for following this there is no loss for Idea cellular.

11. The company should highlight about the value added services in the advertisements at

local level.



BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Primary data:

Questionnaire

Interview

Survey

B.Secondary data :

Books Author

Service Marketing –S.M.Jha

Marketing Management – Philip Kotler

Research Methodology – C.R. Kothari

Advertising, Sales and Promotion – S. A. Chunawalla

Magazines – 4 P’s of Marketing

(July -2009)

– Tele Marketing Prakriya

News papers – Business Line

– Times of India

Websites http:// www.ideacellular.com

http:// www.google.com

http:// www.whereis.doc.com

http://www.marketingwords.com


http://www.marketingwords.com/

http://www.whereis.doc.com/

http://www.google.com/

http://www.ideacellular.com/

branding and customer’s purchase preferences in mobile phone telecommunication for idea cellular...

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