A Comparative Strategy between two competitive brands.

INTRODUCTIONBharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as Airtel. It is an Indian telecommunications Services Company headquartered at New Delhi, India. It operates in 20 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. Airtel has GSM network in all countries, providing 2G, 3G and 4G services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel is the worlds third largest mobile telecommunications company with over 275 million subscribers across 20 countries as of August 2013. It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with 192.22 million subscribers as of August 2013. Airtel is the third largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base, behind China Mobile and China Unicom. Airtel is the largest provider of mobile telephonic and second largest provider of fixed telephonic in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services. It offers its telecom services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal.

INTRODUCTIONVodafone Group Plc is a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London and with its registered office in Newbury, Berkshire. It is the worlds second-largest mobile telecommunications company measured by both subscribers and 2011 revenues (in each case behind China Mobile). Had 439 million subscribers as of December 2011. Vodafone owns and operates networks in over 30 countries and has partner networks in over 40 additional countries. Its Vodafone Global Enterprise division provides telecommunications and IT services to corporate clients in over 65 countries. Vodafone also owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, the largest mobile telecommunications company in the United States measured by subscribers. The name Vodafone comes from voice data fone, chosen by the company to reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones. Vittorio Colao CEO OF VODAFONE GROUP PlcHISTORYAIRTELVODAFONE

Sunil Bharti Mittal founded the Bharti Group. In 1983The evolution of Vodafone brandstarted in 1982 with the establishment of Racal Strategic Radio Ltd subsidiary of Racal Electronics plc - UKs largest maker of military radio technology

In 1986, Mittal incorporated BhartiTelecom Limited (BTL)IN 1982 Racal Strategic RadioLtd formed a joint venture with Millicom called Racal Vodafone, which would later evolve into the present day Vodafone.

And his company became the first in India to offer push-button telephones, establishing the basis ofBharti Enterprises

Today, Airtel is the largest cellular service provider in India and the third largest in the worldIt is theworld's 2nd-largest mobile telecommunications companymeasured by both subscribers and 2013 revenues

MISSION, VISION AND OBJECTIVE STATEMENTS OF AIRTEL AND VODAFONE.ParticularsAirtelVodafone

MissionA spirit charged with energy, creativity and a team driven "to seizethe day" with an ambition to become the most admiredtelecomservice providerglobally"The Vodafone mission is to be the communications leader in an increasingly connected world. By enriching Customers lives Helping individuals Businesses &communities And delivering total communication needs

VisionBy 2015 Airtel will be the most loved brand, enriching the lives of the millions.

ObjectivesTo undertake transformational projects that have a positive impact on the society and contribute to the nation building process. To Diversify into new businesses in agriculture, financial services and retail business with world-class partners. To lay the foundation forbuilding a conglomerate of future.Focus the customer and lead the product. Staying as a leading brand.

COMPARASION BASED ON MARKETING MIX STRATEGYParticularsAirtelVodafone

ProductPrepaid, Post-paid, Value-added services, Solutions for business enterprises, International facilities through calling cards and prepaid world SIMs etc.This means giving customers the features and benefits they want. Vodafone gives buyers features such as games, pictures, ring tones, information services, bills and even video

PlaceFlow of information in channel members Availability of promotional items to the channel PriceVodafone operates over 300 stores and also sells through other outlets. It has expert staff in the stores to help buyers

Price Flexible pricing mechanism Customer based pricing PromotionVodafone offers a number of price plans to suit all of its target groups. It also gives NECTAR reward points for every 1 spent

PromotionLarge scale print & video. SRK & Sachin are roped in to endorse the product. In 2002- Airtel got is Signature tune from A.R. Rehman. Provides innovations such as Bollywood movie premiers & music service.Above the line this is advertising in a number of different ways such as TV and posters. Below the line this includes less obvious advertising such as in-store displays and the way stores are branded. Vodafone work with icon like Devid Beckham to communicate its brand value.

MARKET STRATEGY1) Airtel Product InnovationHeavy AdvertisingEffective Sales PromotionCustomer care2) VodafoneVodafone also has an effective marketing strategy called Rebranding. In their acquisition of one telecom company in India, Hutchison Essar. Changing the name from Hutchison Essar to Vodafone Essar is the key to their success. One of their most successful ads includes their talented and wacky characters Zoozoo 24 hour customer support and online services make their offers a complete package.STRENGTH WEAKNESS OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS OF AIRTEL AND VODAFONE

ParticularsAirtelVodafone

StrengthsA group of strong Network transportationStrong presence in rising marker like IndiaStrong ability to manage change & acquisitionHave more than 238,000 base station sites transmitting wireless signals Making one of the largest mobile operators in the world

WeaknessUntapped Rural market. Although Airtel have strong Presence throughout the country but still they are far away from the Indian rural partVodafone slow in responding to the trend towards bundling The American business is not as strong as the European/having a break off the world operations of 80% of their business is producing in Europe.

OpportunitiesGood Tax free offers and plansNeeds to investigate & improvement of the new mobile technologiesVodafone launched its own software application store-The Joint Innovation Lab in May 2009 Most of the venture in Hutchison Essar in India

ThreatsIncreasing CompetitionDifficult to raise funds because of recessionVery high competitive & strong market to face Still at the back of most of the competitors in the US