IIPM 3-year full-time Integrated (MBA BBA) ProgrammeThe mission to become an internationally renowned brand began four years back for Airtel. Today, it reigns high as the number one brand in India, for the second year in a row! Undoubtedly, it has become one of the most formidable brands of India Inc.Airtel has succeeded in establishing a strong ‘connect’ with a billion Indians, as Pratik Mazumder, who has been a brand custodian of Airtel till 2008 and now runs his own brand consultancy out of Bangalore, avers, “The Airtel success story is just like a Bollywood film, with the home-grown company being able to make a mark for itself in the second largest telecom market in the world, and thus becoming the fourth-largest telecom service provider in the world. It’s a company that is loved by its customers, admired by its partners and benchmarked for its best practices by its peers. It’s a company that has transformed the lives of a billion across the country.”
Airtel was one of the first companies to be offered wireless license in the country (in the year 1995) and that event marked the beginning of a new era in Indian telecom history. When Airtel entered the scene, wireless technology was considered to be a utility meant only for a select few. But with competiton increasing and with timely government intervention, prices were slashed to rock bottom levels. Mobile telephony suddenly became a necessity. Since then, Airtel has evolved into a ‘life changing’ brand, changing with the times and even today continues to be greatly associated with the lives of the its customers. “Airtel has always banked upon the strategy of portraying real human emotions that touch one’s heart and hence people can relate well to this brand, ”shares Sagar Mahableshwarkar of Rediffusion Y&R (the agency that handles Airtel’s creative account).
Over the last year too, Airtel as a brand has kindled many emotions through its communication strategy. Even its latest ‘Special five’ campaign (that is currently on air) stands proof to the same. This campaign is about Anna and her special five friends and explains well how one can talk to his/her chosen person at subsidised rates. The thematic idea behind this commercial was to communicate how to make your special ones even more special and bring them closer, by establishing a constant communication channel. Apart from this, the company has also roped-in multiple brand ambassadors and popularise its value added services (VAS).
However, as a market leader, the company did not just rely on its markeing communications strategy win the crown of the ‘most valuable brand in the country’. It also offered many innovative offerings to the end customers. The most talked about service was the launch of its DTH venture – Airtel Digital. The launch campaign featured as many 10 celebrities and was able to draw instant attention. This particular ad went on air on October 8, 2008 and according to a study done by research firm IMRB on October 9, 2008, Airtel Digital TV had extremely established an strong awareness and ad reach numbers in just a day! The key findings indicated that the spontaneous awareness for this ad was 37% and total awareness was 58%. Google trends show Airtel Digital TV to be the 3rd hottest or most searched keyword a day after the TVC was aired, while it had over 10,800 views on YouTube! “Airtel digital TV expects to gain 20% market share amongst new additions to the category in the first year alone, and expects to increase it in the subsequent years,” opines N. Arjun, Executive Director – Bharti Telemedia Ltd.
And the strong communication mantra continues for Airtel Digital TV. Only this time, it talks about its picture clarity through a television commercial featuring Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. The company has plans to come out with many such communication campaigns in the future as well. Last year, Airtel also launched its IPTV, and positioned itself as being not just a telecommunications giant but a media and entertainment brand as well, making it the first Indian company to offer triple play services. Apart from this, the company also launched its communications around its 16MBPS broadband offering with the tagline ‘Impatience is the new word’ that helped connect the company with its young dynamic customers.
Strong marketing communication and value driven innovation - reasons enough for Airtel to win the coveted crown of India’s Most Valuable Company for the second time in a row...
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