Sunil Bharti MittalCASE STUDY ANALYSIS

BACKGROUND -

Founded in 1976, by Sunil Bharti Mittal

Grown from being a manufacturer of bicycle parts to one of the largest and most respected business groups in India

Created world-class businesses in telecom, financial services, retail, and foods

Started its telecom services business by launching mobile services in Delhi (India) in 1995

One of the top telecom companies in the world and is amongst the top five wireless operators in the world.

Its global telecom operations has led Bharti group’s presence in 21 countries across Asia, Africa and Europe

SUMMARY OF THE FILM

The film showcased a close look at the success story of one of present India’s greatest businessmen, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal.

It shows how Mr. Mittal had a ‘never say die attitude’ and despite all the overwhelming ups and downs in his businesses, he never gave up.

The film also showcases how the business practices changed in India overnight post the liberalization by the then FinMin Dr.Manmohan Singh.

About Mr. Sunil Mittal, the film shows unparellaled grit & determination to succeed. This was evident when in the first round of bidding for the telecom licenses, Mr. Mittal wet on to win 2 circles despite having tough competition from giants like TATA and Essar.

PR ELEMENTS

The PR elements required for a company to progress are:

To have a good PR strategy in place

PR helps build and sustain a groundswell of brand support,

Good PR is proactive in idea generation and responsive in a crisis. Good PR finds the balance.

Good PR leverages pre-existing relationships with influential people.

MARKETING STRATEGY

Bharti Enterprises used excellent B2B marketing strategies to strike deals with various international companies.

They tied up with various international companies over a period of time.

They had well defined goals which helped them achieve targets.

They had segregated the target audience smartly and acquired customers in a step by step procedure.

They had an early bird advantage.

They took quick initiatives when offered an opportunity.

GENERIC PR PLAN OF THE COMPANY

The company believed in establishing a TRUST factor with its clients and customers.

The company initiated dialogue with many big corporations, specially international corporations.

Sunil Mittal himself initiated contact with many international companies in Japan and Taiwan. This was a good PR move and he gained the trust of these companies and hence expanded his import business.

Speed was a major factor with Bharti enterprises and that impressed the partner companies and clients.

Entered into tie-ups with Siemens and impressed them with his business skills.

Mr. Mittal also had excellent relations with Mr. Sam Pitroda, who is called the father of the Indian Telecom sector. This was a good PR move as it helped Bharti gain in their Telecom Business.

Approached Vivendi, a major French Telecom giantto help him bid for the mobile circles that were up for bidding.

His PR masterstroke was when Vivendi decided to backout of the bidding, and Mr. Mittal convinced them to stay in the race by saying that they wouldn’t be required to pay anything.

Tied up with the Madhya Pradesh government to set up local calling PCO units which again shows the PR strategy of the company.

GENERIC PR PLAN OF THE COMPANY

POSTIVE ASPECTS

Sunil mittal true entrepreneur

Risk taker;

Knows art of corporate recovery;

Understanding Indian mindset;

Focus and not stepping back;

Performing with speed to acquire the market share 

Other stakeholders in Bharti Airtel include Sony-Ericsson, Nokia - and Sing Tel, with whom they hold a strategic alliance. This means that the business has access to knowledge and technology from other parts of the telecommunications world.

POSTIVE ASPECTS

Bharti Airtel has more than 65 million customers (July 2008). It is the largest cellular provider in India, and also supplies broadband and telephone services - as well as many other telecommunications services to both domestic and corporate customers. 

It outsourced its many operations to industry experts like IBM, Ericsson, Nokia, Siemens.

No political acquisitions- neutral

Positioned itself more of aspirational and lifestyle brand….not considered as cheap brand

No stability- Quick shift from one business to another

Airtel did not own its towers which was strength of some of its competitors such as hutchissan essar

Absence of enabling environment, be it infrastructure or bureaucracy

Political and competitive threats

NEGATIVE ASPECTS

BETTER PR STRATEGIES

Sunil Mittals father, Mr. Satpal Mittal was an influential MP from Ludhiana. Sunil should have asked for help from his father to procure licences for businesses.

He could have interacted with a lot of Congress men as his father represented the same party. This would have helped him form his business plans as he would have been well informed about govt policy making.

He started off with United Pharmaceuticals but didn’t really expand that business. Had he invested sum PR and efforts into the pharma industry then, it would have been a major company today keeping in mind the current market scenario.

They took a very long time to make their mobile telecom biz from a class product to a mass product.

CURRENT SCENARIO

Bharti Airtel Limited offering telecommunication services in 19 countries.

Its the largest cellular service provider in India, with more than 137 million subscriptions as of June 2010.

Bharti Airtel is the world's third largest, single-country mobile operator and fifth largest telecom operator in the world in terms of subscriber base.

It also offers fixed line services and broadband services.

In India, the company has a 30.7% share of the wireless services market.

CURRENT SCENARIOThe Digital TV business provides Direct-to-

Home (DTH) TV services across India under the brand name Airtel Digital TV. It started services on 9 October 2008.

In May 2008, it emerged that Bharti Airtel was exploring the possibility of buying the MTN Group, a South Africa-based telecommunications company with coverage in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East.

On May 9, 2009 Airtel signed a major deal with Manchester United Football Club. As a result of the deal, Airtel gets the rights to broadcast the matches played by the team to its customers.

CURRENT SCENARIOBharti Airtel signed a five-year deal with ESPN

Star Sports to become the title sponsor of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament. The tournament itself is named "Airtel Champions League Twenty20.

On August 11, 2010, Bharti Airtel announced that it would acquire 100% stake in Telecom Seychelles taking its global presence to 19 countries. Deal amount is disclosed as 288 crore (US$ 62.5 million).

A TEAM EFFORT BY

Varun Bharadwaj: 195

Syed Hyder: 189

Swathi Ravichandran: 187

Sugandh Munka: 180

Raghavendra BT: 150

Thank you