Description
virgin mobile's business model, segmentation, targeting,customer acquisition and retention strategies, marketing mix of virgin mobile, perceptual map of virgin mobile.
VIRGIN MOBILE SERVICES
MARKET RESEARCH PROJECT
GROUP MEMBERS
EVELLYN GOES 114 RAHUL NAIR 134 SWAPNIL KANADE 123 MITESH KAPADIA 029 HITESH RAMDASANI 044
(MMS MARKETING 09 – 11)
SUBMITTED TO
PROF. DR. MONICA KHANNA
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 3 UNDERSTANDING VIRGIN’S BUSINESS MODEL: ..................................................................................... 4 . SEGMENTATION & TARGETING: ............................................................................................................. 5 POSITIONING THE VIRGIN BRAND: ......................................................................................................... 6 CUSTOMER ACQUISITION AND RETENTION STRATEGIES ....................................................................... 7 VALUE CREATION THROUGH PRODUCT DESIGN: ................................................................................... 7 MARKETING MIX: .................................................................................................................................... 8 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL: ....................................................................................................................... 9 CUSTOMER RESEARCH: ......................................................................................................................... 10 FINDINGS: ......................................................................................................................................... 10 . ANALYSIS: .......................................................................................................................................... 17 CORRELATION: .............................................................................................................................. 17 FACTOR ANALYSIS: ........................................................................................................................ 18 PERCEPTUAL MAPPING: ................................................................................................................ 22 RECOMMENDATIONS: .......................................................................................................................... 25 LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH:.......................................................................................................... 25 CONCLUSION: ........................................................................................................................................ 25 QUESTIONAIRE on Virgin Mobile Services: ........................................................................................... 26
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INTRODUCTION
Virgin Mobile, a leading branded venture capital organization, is one of the world's most recognized and respected brands. Conceived in 1970 by Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin Mobile Group has gone on to grow very successful businesses in sectors ranging from mobile telephony, to transportation, travel, financial services, leisure, music, holidays, publishing and retailing. Virgin Mobile has created more than 200 branded companies worldwide, employing approximately 50,000 people, in 29 countries. Its revenues around the world in 2006 exceeded £10 billion (approx. US$20 billion). In Indian mobile market, Virgin mobile is a unique player based on its business model and strategy. It is the only service provider which does not hold any bandwidth and mobile setup infrastructure but uses Tata Teleservices spectrum and is penetrating market totally on its branding and marketing strategy. Creating a niche brand and promoting it to specific customer segment with proper marketing has been the key success factor for virgin mobile across the globe. So, from marketing and customer understanding point of view, this is a very unique company to study.
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UNDERSTANDING VIRGIN’S BUSINESS MODEL:
Virgin has promoted itself as the brand for young India, keeping the Indian youth as its target customer segment. The idea behind targeting this segment can be found inherited in virgin’s business model. The different marketing perspectives are explained in fig 1. The salient features of Virgin’s business model from customer perspective are: 1) With intensive competition and reducing voice tariffs, the profit margins for voice service are decreasing day by day. So, the future profit strategy is maximizing profit margins through data services and it is youth segment which provides maximum data service revenues. 2) Future projection of increasing young and working population of India as 65% of overall population by 2020. 3) Increased use of data services in future due to technological advancements.
So , in mobile sector where all other players are trying to provide similar service to different customer segments, virgin is targeting specific segment with tailor made plans keeping its long term goals in mind.
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SEGMENTATION & TARGETING:
The Virgin Mobile Brand targets Indian youth aged between 14 and 25 years. There are 215 million people in this age group. Out of this, 70 million own a mobile phone and this segment is expected to add another 50 million new subscribers in the next three years. Though young subscribers constitute only 30 percent of the total mobile subscribers, they contribute more than 50 percent of the revenues of telecom industry. By 2010 this group is expected to contribute 60-70 percent of total revenues.
The distinct mobile phone usage habits of the young users provide a huge advantage to Virgin Mobile. They make more and longer out-bound voice calls, which means huge billing potential for service providers. The usage of SMS, data services in the form of mobile internet, mobile shopping and other value added services like ring tones, caller tunes, wallpapers, etc are very high in this group which again provides a huge opportunity to be tapped. Moreover young users have a short handset up gradation cycle-under 12 months as compared to two years for people above 25 years of age.
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POSITIONING THE VIRGIN BRAND:
Virgin mobile has positioned itself as the youth oriented brand of India through various communication channels. They are: a) “Think Hat ke” advertisement campaign targeting youth b) Red and vibrant website look with youth focused language (Fig 2) c) Tailor made plans for young segment d) Getting paid for incoming calls: a source of recharge option for youth
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CUSTOMER ACQUISITION AND RETENTION STRATEGIES
The company knows that they are trying to position themselves into a very established and competitive market. They understand the fact that they cannot start making profit from day one neither they have plans for it; they anticipate to achieve a subscriber base of 5 million in next three years and will make profit afterwards they will be able to break even in three year or so. Sir Richard once said, “We want to deliver a more tailored and relevant offering for a single segment.” Company targets only 10% of the above mentioned segment and have plans to acquire and retain them by various innovative propositions, some of them are1) Providing services which were not offered so far a) Get paid for incoming calls. b) 50 paisa calls across the country. c) A brand truly meant for the young India which is reflected at each & every touch point. d) Extensive data service offers in the form of Vbytes. e) Excellent value added plans. f) Go online facility for enquiry, purchasing phone, recharging and everything. g) One-touch VAS access from every virgin mobile. 2) Providing services which others are not providing meticulously a) Easy to change the handset from a wide range of handset providing at very reasonable prices b) Boring customer care services telling you are in queue. c) One customer care officer dedicated for all queries of one customer leading to transparency. d) No jammed or bad network coverage. e) Tailor made customized plans without any hidden charges. f) No monthly bills.
VALUE CREATION THROUGH PRODUCT DESIGN:
Various steps that Virgin is taking to add value to the customer are on price, quality, technology and social front. Company is providing the best prices in whichever plan you go, quality of signals is not only comparable but better than most of the service providers, on technology front it is the first in India to go for one-touch VAS access from every Virgin Mobile.
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MARKETING MIX:
The marketing mix is the combination of marketing activities that an organization in so as to best meet the needs of its targeted market. Product: Virgin Mobile offers six RUIM enabled handsets with colour screen, FM radio and include one touch access for Vbytes-Virgin Mobile’s VAS portal.
Price: The handsets are priced in the range of Rs2000-5000.The call tariff is very nominal which is 50p per call both local and STD subject to terms and conditions. Place: The focus of Virgin Mobile on customer acquisition has so far been in the top 60 cities of India and is set to extend to more cities. The product is available across a host of modern retail outlets The Mobile Store, Hotspot, RPG Cellucom, Croma etc. Promotion: Virgin Mobile entered the Indian market in grand style. The company surprised the readers of a leading Indian daily when all the headlines on the front page were in the colour red. Virgin Mobile has used a very vibrant colour to relate itself with the targeted market. Apart from traditional media, internet and outdoor youth centric advertising has been used wisely to attract the targeted audience.
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DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL:
Virgin mobile makes its products available to the customer by both retail stores and online distribution. Selective Distribution: Virgin mobile has selected some retail outlets to distribute its products. It does not follow the strategy of intensive and exclusive distribution. The strategy of selective distribution helps the company gain optimum market coverage and more control but at a lesser cost than intensive distribution. Virgin Mobile launched a new mobile handset vBling on 7 July 2008. vBling is available across 15,000 outlets nationally and over Mobile 1000 modern retail outlets including The Store, Univercell, Croma, Convergem, Big C, Vishal Mega Mart, Vijay Sales and
Sangeetha to name a few. Apart from this, the handset will also be available in 34 kiosks in high traffic malls across the country. Online Distribution: Virgin Mobile I ndia has announced that customer s can now buy Virgin Mobile branded products and services online. They just need to select the handset, plan and number of their choice by filling an online form. Post the payment transaction, handsets will be delivered to the customer within 24 - 48 hours and the requisite documents for proof of identity will be collected in person. Customer s taking advantage of online shopping will also be offered additional talk time, extra messages as well as other freebies. Disintermediation and re-aggregation: The different features of the online distribution are stated as follows: • Intermediary becomes redundant as technology • Customization becomes easier and feasible which adds to the customer value. • Re- aggregation occurs in the sense that companies today encourage customers to lodge their complaints or send their queries on the net. These are then routed to another site where they are dealt with immediately in a seamless manner. So it helps in improving the overall efficiency of the channel. For the delivery of the ordered products Virgin Mobile has tied up with Blue Dart.
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customer buys
directly from the firm using web
CUSTOMER RESEARCH:
In order to understand target market’s expectation and virgin customers experience about the product, we have done a survey with a sample size of 45. The questionnaire was prepared and sent across to the customer and also the feedback was collected in person. Sampling Procedure used: Random Sampling
FINDINGS:
1) Gender
Gender
47% 53%
Male Female
47 % of the respondents were Male while 53% of the respondents were Female.
2) Age
Age
4%
19%
16 ? 25 26 ? 35 77% 36 & above
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As per the data, 77% of the respondents fall in the 16 – 25 age category followed by 19% in the 26 – 35 category. 3) Occupation
Occupation
4% 8% Student Service 28% 60% Business Home Maker
According to the survey, 60% were students and 28% of the respondents were doing service. While 8% were doing business, only 4% were home makers.
4) Income
Income
2% Below 1 lakh 28% 1 ? 4 lakhs 4 ? 7 lakhs 38% 7 lakhs and above
32%
32% of the respondents had incomes above 7 lakhs, while 38% fell in the 4 – 7 lakhs category 28% were in the 1 – 4 lakhs category.
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5) A Awareness: It wa found out that from the total resp as t t pondents Vi irgin enjoyed 95.7% aw wareness. Th his show that custom are cle ws mers early aware o the presen of Virgi mobiles s of nce in services in th he Cellu Service P ular Provider cat tegory
4.26% 4
Aware Unaware 95.74%
6) L Luring facto or: Out o the total r of respondents (N = 47) 95 5.74% said that the sing most imp gle portant facto or that led to their purchase of Virgin serv l f vices was th 10-paisa credit per in he ncoming cal ll. This was followed by 70% response in favor of C n Catchy adver rtisements s showcased o on televi ision by Virg Mobile S gin Services.
Percen ntage
120 0% 100 0% 80 0% 60 0% 40 0% 20 0% 0% 0 Catchy Ads 10 pais sa offer Lu ucrative Sc chemes Br rand Name Yout Centric Brand
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7) U Usage: Out O of the to Virgin Users that is N = 47 it was found that 49.55% used Virgi otal U s % in se ervices for le than 6 m ess months while 29.78% use it for the l than 3 m ed less months. It wa as 23.40 for less than a year & 4.25% of the respond s r f dents claime to have us it for ove ed sed er a year. This c clearly shows that while Virgin Serv vices were go at gettin customer t ood ng to bu their serv uy vices they fa ailed to provi what cus ide stomers look forward t and henc ked too ce fo ound it diffic to retain customers. cult n
45. .00% 40. .00% 35. .00% 30. .00% 25. .00% 20. .00% 15. .00% 10. .00% 5. .00% 0. .00% s than 3 Less months Less than 6 months Less than a year More th han a year
8) O Overall Satis sfaction with Virgin Mobile Servic ces: 70.21 of the re 1% espondent sa that they were not s aid y satisfied with Virgin Mo h obile service es and h hence switch to other services du to various problems f hed ue s faced whilst using Virgi t in Mobi Services. This is a hu number a is a caus of concern for Virgin. ile uge and se n .
29.7 78% Satisfied Dissatisfied 70.21%
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9) P Problems fac ced: On O delving de eeper into th problem it was found that those w were dis he who ssatisfied wit th Virgin faced t followin problems: V the ng
100 0% 90 0% 80 0% 70 0% 60 0% 50 0% 40 0% 30 0% 20 0% 10 0% 0% 0
87.80% %
75.75%
69.69% 1 12.12%
60% 60.6 % 18.18% 6.06%
Av vailabilty No N of Expensive Poor Charges for Bad Lack o Custome er calling network pr roblems 3G, V VOIP value e Care and o other adding g customer su uch scheme es Service care features
Poor customer C Care Services & problem with the same, Bad N s ms s Network, No platform fo o or o G , d of or or use of Features such as 3G VOIP etc, were cited as some o the majo reasons fo dissat tisfaction. While it was seen that ro W oughly 30% of the user were satisfied they sti rs ill claim to have f med faced problems whilst us sing Virgin s services, how wever on an overall base n es they were happy with Virgin Services. M of the problems fac by them were simila n Most p ced m ar to tho faced abo ose ove. 10) Sw witching tre end: From the primar research that we carr m ry t ried out it w found th 70.21% of Vodafon was hat ne users switched t Virgin Mobile Serv to M vices during their yout centric promotion via g th p ision adverti isements and print. 14.8 d 89% were A Airtel users w whereas 10.6 65% & 4.25% % televi were Loop mobil and MTN users resp le NL pectively. Th shows th Virgin mobile service his hat es into the custo omer base of Vodafone. f were able to eat i
Befo ore
10.65% 4. .25% Vodafo one Airtel Loop M Mobile 70 0.21%
14 4.89%
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Howe ever due to dissatisfaction with the services pro ovided by V Virgin mobile services th e he users switched b back to eith the sam service provider as before or another on her me p ne. ever it is cle early seen th some of the previous Vodafone users had n hat now shifted t to Howe Airtel. Howe ever it was f found that so ome Virgin customers w were satisfied & continued to hang o d on to Virgin.
Afte er
8.62% 25% 4.2
Vdafon ne 10.63% 48 8.90% Airtel Tata Do ocomo Virgin 27.60% Relianc ce
Customer Lo oyalty towards Virgin M Mobile Serv vices: 11) C Seein that a ma chunk o the respon ng ajor of ndents who w were users o Virgin mo of obile service es were not too happ with the V py Virgin Servi ices, it doesn come as a surprise th the loyalt n’t hat ty enjoy by Virgin with regar to these c yed n rds customers is very poor.
I co onsider m myself lo oyal to V Virgin M Mobile Ser rvices
60% % 50% % 40% % 30% % 20% % 10% % 0% % Strongly Disagree Dis sagree Neither Disagree nor Agree Agree 4.25% 8.51% 0% Agree Strongly A 1.91% 31 55.31 1%
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I always rec commen nd Virgin n Mobile e Serv vices to m my friends
60% % 50% % 40% % 30% % 20% % 10% % 0% 0% % Strongly ee Disagre Disag gree Ne either Disag gree nor Ag gree Agree Strongly Agree 0% 2.70% 12 48.90% % 38.2 29%
Virg gin Mobi ile Services is my favorit te brand d among g cellular service e providers
80% % 70% % 60% % 50% % 40% % 30% % 20% % 10% % 0% % Strongly ee Disagre Disag gree Ne either Disag gree nor gree Ag Agree Strongly Agree 10.6 63% 2.76% 12 4.25% 0% 72.34% %
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Virg gin Mob bile Serv vices is th he only brand th hat i nee ed in the e categor ry of cellular service provide ers
70% % 60% % 50% % 40% % 30% % 20% % 10% % 0% % Strongly Disagree Disagree Ne either Disagree e nor Agree 21.27% 12.76% 0.00% Agree 0.00 0% Strongly y Agree 65.90 0%
Thus the loyalty factor is a h huge proble that Virg Mobile s em gin services have to seriousl e ly look at if they ha to impro This sho that wh ave ove. ows hilst they are able to attra customer e act rs ugh e nd ds, u tain them. L Loyalty come es throu lucrative schemes an catchy ad they are unable to ret when the custom begins to believe that the produ n mer o uct/service m meets his/her needs in a r all possi ible ways, w which in turn can be ach n hieved throu providin great expe ugh ng erience of th he servic ce/product. Thus Virgin needs to focus on d determining the critical factors that l Custo omers look for in a Ser rvice provide thereby in er ncreasing th chance of providing t he f to the cu ustomer, the best possibl experienc when they use the Vir e le ce y rgin Mobile service. s
ANALYS SIS:
CORRELA ATION:
1) Satisfaction nwith VirginServ vices Satisfa actionwithVi irgin Pearso on Service es Corre elation Sig. (2 2-tailed) N Age Pearso on Corre elation Sig. (2 2-tailed) N
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Age A 1 .076 .612
47 .076 .612 47
47 1
47
17
There was a correlation analysis done to find out a relation between Age and Satisfaction by using Virgin Mobile services. A Pearson co-efficient value of .076 indicates that there is a slight positive correlation between Age and the satisfaction of Virgin services. Correlation analysis was also carried out independently with variables of Gender, Income and Occupation however there was no significant relation found with the satisfaction of Virgin services.
FACTOR ANALYSIS:
Output data: Communalities Initial IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforlucrativeschem esitoffer IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforitsCustomerCa reServiceis IchooseaCellularServiceProviderfortheconnectivit yitoffers IchooseaCellularServiceProviderbasedonitsavailab ilty IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforPopularityamo ngstfriends IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforvalueaddedser vices Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 Extraction .822 .598 .295 .722 .341 .789
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Total Variance Explained Co mp one nt Initial Eigenvalues % of Varianc Cumulat Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 2.171 1.395 .954 .814 .472 .195 e 36.184 23.253 15.893 13.564 7.862 ive % Total 36.184 2.171 59.437 1.395 75.330 88.894 96.755 Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings % of Varianc e 36.184 23.253 Cumulative % 36.184 59.437 Total 1.999 1.568 % of Variance 33.310 26.127 Cumulativ e% 33.310 59.437 Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings
3.245 100.000
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Component Matrix(a) Component 1 IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforlucrativeschem esitoffer IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforitsCustomerCa reServiceis IchooseaCellularServiceProviderfortheconnectivit yitoffers IchooseaCellularServiceProviderbasedonitsavailab ilty IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforPopularityamo ngstfriends IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforvalueaddedser vices Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. a 2 components extracted.
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2 .852 -.200 .441 .502 -.480 .853 -.308 -.747 .317 .686 .333 -.247
Rotated Component Matrix(a) Component 1 IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforlucrativeschem esitoffer IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforitsCustomerCa reServiceis IchooseaCellularServiceProviderfortheconnectivit yitoffers IchooseaCellularServiceProviderbasedonitsavailab ilty IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforPopularityamo ngstfriends IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforvalueaddedser vices Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. a Rotation converged in 3 iterations. .897 .176 .239 .119 -.580 .869 2 .130 -.753 .488 .841 .067 .185
Component Transformation Matrix Component 1 2 1 .882 -.471 2 .471 .882
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
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Interpretation of Factor Analysis: Schemes and Services are the most important factors that are taken into consideration when people buy cellular services. The other factors that are important are Availability and Connectivity. Factors on the basis of importance 1) Schemes & Services 2) Availability 3) Connectivity Together these three factors account for roughly around 75% of the variance. If Virgin has to attract more young customers it has to focus on the Schemes and Services. The Schemes & Services that it provides should be much more attractive and valuable than the ones provided by the market leaders i.e. Airtel & Vodafone.
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PERCEPTUAL MAPPING:
Output data: >>Number of parameters is 20. Number of data values is 45 Iteration history for the 2 dimensional solution (in squared distances) Young's S-stress formula 1 is used. Iteration 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 S-stress .22373 .17277 .16847 .16657 .16440 .16058 .15691 .15472 .15331 .15204 .15054 .14824 .14389 .13564 .12876 .12556 .12164 .11584 .10810 .09939 .09114 .08428 .07903 .07523 .05096 .00431 .00190 .00217 .00381 .00368 .00218 .00142 .00127 .00150 .00230 .00435 .00824 .00688 .00320 .00392 .00580 .00773 .00871 .00825 .00686 .00525 .00380
22
Improvement
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25 26 27 28
.07253 .07073 .06951 .06869
.00269 .00180 .00122 .00081
Iterations stopped because S-stress improvement is less than .001000
Stress and squared correlation (RSQ) in distances RSQ values are the proportion of variance of the scaled data (disparities) in the partition (row, matrix, or entire data) which is accounted for by their corresponding distances. Stress values are Kruskal's stress formula 1. For matrix Stress = .04260 RSQ = .99238
Stimulus Coordinates Stimulus Stimulus Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Name 1 2
Vodafone 1.6346 -1.6411 Airtel Virgin 1.8064 -.3073 -.9795 .4960 .7619
Reliance .6422 MTNL Loop MTS Idea Aircel
TataIndi -.7674 .4588 -1.4187 -.8672 -.7689 .4549 -1.4186 -.8683 .6350 .7562 .6350 .7562
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Derived Stimulus Configuration
Euclidean distance model
1.0
Aircel Virgin Idea Loop Reliance
0.5
TataIndicom
Dimension 2
0.0
Airtel
-0.5
MTNL
-1.0
MTS
-1.5
Vodafone
-2.0 -2 0 2
Dimension 1
Analysis of Perceptual Mapping: From the Perceptual Mapping we can clearly see four groups. First group includes Virgin, Tata, & Loop. The Second group includes Idea, Reliance and Aircel. The third group includes MTNL & MTS. The fourth group consists of Airtel and Vodafone. From the factor analysis that was concluded it can be concluded that dimension 2 could be taken as Schemes & Services where Airtel and Vodafone clock very high and Virgin clocks very high. Dimension 1could be customer complaints where Vodafone and Airtel clock very low and Virgin clocks very high. Since a 2 dimensional analysis was done the dimensions cannot be confirmed to accuracy. Virgin in order to increase its market share has to focus on Schemes & Services and try to resolve customer complaints efficiently and effectively.
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
1) Virgin should try to promote its latest plans like 50 paisa STD calls in advertisements. Making customers aware about latest pricing will increase its market share in terms of cost effectiveness. 2) Virgin should try to tap 14% of customer base who want to switch to virgin but not able to switch because of existing non-compatible handset. 3) Solving existing non-compatible handset problem and better communication to inform latest pricing strategies will lead to substantial increase in consumer base for virgin mobile. 4) In order to enhance customer satisfaction, time gap between services sought and delivered should be minimized.
LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH:
The research was carried out with a relatively smaller sample size of 45 respondents which may be difficult to generalize for a larger audience.
CONCLUSION:
Virgin Mobile has entered into a very competitive industry where Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance are the dominant players. Virgin Mobile faces stiff competition from Reliance CDMA phones. Virgin Mobile have taken a ‘hatke’ route and launched the brand in the youth segment. The tie-up with Tata Teleservices enables it to fight competition as the network quality of Tata Teleservices was ranked first by DOT. The company is spending huge chunks of money to promote their VAS services. Virgin should try to promote its latest plans more prominently in their advertisements. Making customers aware about latest pricing will increase its market share in terms of cost effectiveness. Virgin mobiles projects its image as that of a brand for youth which may not go well with the conservative Indian consumer. Therefore they should try to build up an image that is cool and links with the youth but not offending to other segments. Getting involved in social activities can help Virgin in projecting a serious and responsible image. Finally, to keep up in the highly competitive market, innovation and exciting new offers will help in devising a differentiation strategy.
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QUESTIONAIRE on Virgin Mobile Services:
Please spare a moment to fill out this customer satisfaction questionnaire 1) Name * 2) Gender * Male Female 3) Occupation * Business Service Home maker Student Other: 4) Age * Below 15 16-25 26-35 35 & above 5) Family Income * below 1 lakh 1 - 4 Lakh 4 - 7 Lakh 7 Lakh and Above 6) Do you own a Mobile handset * Yes No
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7) Which of the following Cellular Service Providers are you aware of? * Vodafone Tata Docomo Airtel Reliance Idea Loop Mobile Virgin MTS MTNL Other: 8) State your current Cellular Service Provider * Vodafone Tata Docomo Airtel Reliance Idea Loop Mobile Virgin MTS MTNL Aircel Other:
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9) I choose a Cellular Service Provider based on the lucrative schemes that it offers me * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
10) I choose a Cellular Service Provider based on how good its Customer Care Service is * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
11) I choose a Cellular Service Provider based on the connectivity that it offers me * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
12) I choose a Cellular Service Provider based on its availability * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
13) I choose a Cellular Service Provider based on its Popularity amongst my friends * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
14) I choose a Cellular Service Provider based on the value added services that it offers me * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
15) Have you ever used Virgin Mobile Service * Yes No
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16) You got to know about Virgin Mobile Services through * Television Ads Print Ads Radio Internet Word of mouth 17) For how long have you used Virgin Mobile Services * Only those who have answered yes to the above question Less than 3 months Less than 6 months Less than a year More than a year 18) Which Cellular Service Provider had you been using before you switched over to Virgin Mobile Services? * Vodafone Tata Docomo Airtel Reliance Idea Loop Mobile MTS MTNL Aircel Other: 19) What was the factor that was critical in your selection of Virgin Mobile Services? * 10 paisa credit per incoming call Catchy Ads Brand Name (Association with Richard Branson) Youth centric brand Lucrative Schemes Other:
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20) Rate on a scale of 1-5, Virgin Mobiles Services, against the following cellular service providers * (1: pathetic, 5: Excellent) 1 Vodafone Airtel Virgin Mobile Services Reliance Tata Indicom Loop Mobile MTNL MTS Idea Aircel 21) I consider myself loyal to Virgin Mobile Services * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree 2 3 4 5
22) I always recommend Virgin Mobile Services to my friends * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
23) Virgin Mobile Services is my favorite brand among cellular service providers * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
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24) Virgin Mobile Services is the only brand that I need in the category of cellular service providers * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
25) Would you say that you are satisfied with Virgin Mobile Services? * Yes No 26) State the problems encountered while using Virgin Mobile Services (For those who answered No to the above question) Poor customer care service Charges for calling customer care Bad network Availability problems Non functioning of 3G, VOIP and other such features Lack of value adding schemes Expensive Other: 27) What changes would you like to see in Virgin Mobile Services that would entice you to continue to use it/use it in the future? *
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doc_161378020.pdf
virgin mobile's business model, segmentation, targeting,customer acquisition and retention strategies, marketing mix of virgin mobile, perceptual map of virgin mobile.
VIRGIN MOBILE SERVICES
MARKET RESEARCH PROJECT
GROUP MEMBERS
EVELLYN GOES 114 RAHUL NAIR 134 SWAPNIL KANADE 123 MITESH KAPADIA 029 HITESH RAMDASANI 044
(MMS MARKETING 09 – 11)
SUBMITTED TO
PROF. DR. MONICA KHANNA
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 3 UNDERSTANDING VIRGIN’S BUSINESS MODEL: ..................................................................................... 4 . SEGMENTATION & TARGETING: ............................................................................................................. 5 POSITIONING THE VIRGIN BRAND: ......................................................................................................... 6 CUSTOMER ACQUISITION AND RETENTION STRATEGIES ....................................................................... 7 VALUE CREATION THROUGH PRODUCT DESIGN: ................................................................................... 7 MARKETING MIX: .................................................................................................................................... 8 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL: ....................................................................................................................... 9 CUSTOMER RESEARCH: ......................................................................................................................... 10 FINDINGS: ......................................................................................................................................... 10 . ANALYSIS: .......................................................................................................................................... 17 CORRELATION: .............................................................................................................................. 17 FACTOR ANALYSIS: ........................................................................................................................ 18 PERCEPTUAL MAPPING: ................................................................................................................ 22 RECOMMENDATIONS: .......................................................................................................................... 25 LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH:.......................................................................................................... 25 CONCLUSION: ........................................................................................................................................ 25 QUESTIONAIRE on Virgin Mobile Services: ........................................................................................... 26
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INTRODUCTION
Virgin Mobile, a leading branded venture capital organization, is one of the world's most recognized and respected brands. Conceived in 1970 by Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin Mobile Group has gone on to grow very successful businesses in sectors ranging from mobile telephony, to transportation, travel, financial services, leisure, music, holidays, publishing and retailing. Virgin Mobile has created more than 200 branded companies worldwide, employing approximately 50,000 people, in 29 countries. Its revenues around the world in 2006 exceeded £10 billion (approx. US$20 billion). In Indian mobile market, Virgin mobile is a unique player based on its business model and strategy. It is the only service provider which does not hold any bandwidth and mobile setup infrastructure but uses Tata Teleservices spectrum and is penetrating market totally on its branding and marketing strategy. Creating a niche brand and promoting it to specific customer segment with proper marketing has been the key success factor for virgin mobile across the globe. So, from marketing and customer understanding point of view, this is a very unique company to study.
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UNDERSTANDING VIRGIN’S BUSINESS MODEL:
Virgin has promoted itself as the brand for young India, keeping the Indian youth as its target customer segment. The idea behind targeting this segment can be found inherited in virgin’s business model. The different marketing perspectives are explained in fig 1. The salient features of Virgin’s business model from customer perspective are: 1) With intensive competition and reducing voice tariffs, the profit margins for voice service are decreasing day by day. So, the future profit strategy is maximizing profit margins through data services and it is youth segment which provides maximum data service revenues. 2) Future projection of increasing young and working population of India as 65% of overall population by 2020. 3) Increased use of data services in future due to technological advancements.
So , in mobile sector where all other players are trying to provide similar service to different customer segments, virgin is targeting specific segment with tailor made plans keeping its long term goals in mind.
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SEGMENTATION & TARGETING:
The Virgin Mobile Brand targets Indian youth aged between 14 and 25 years. There are 215 million people in this age group. Out of this, 70 million own a mobile phone and this segment is expected to add another 50 million new subscribers in the next three years. Though young subscribers constitute only 30 percent of the total mobile subscribers, they contribute more than 50 percent of the revenues of telecom industry. By 2010 this group is expected to contribute 60-70 percent of total revenues.
The distinct mobile phone usage habits of the young users provide a huge advantage to Virgin Mobile. They make more and longer out-bound voice calls, which means huge billing potential for service providers. The usage of SMS, data services in the form of mobile internet, mobile shopping and other value added services like ring tones, caller tunes, wallpapers, etc are very high in this group which again provides a huge opportunity to be tapped. Moreover young users have a short handset up gradation cycle-under 12 months as compared to two years for people above 25 years of age.
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POSITIONING THE VIRGIN BRAND:
Virgin mobile has positioned itself as the youth oriented brand of India through various communication channels. They are: a) “Think Hat ke” advertisement campaign targeting youth b) Red and vibrant website look with youth focused language (Fig 2) c) Tailor made plans for young segment d) Getting paid for incoming calls: a source of recharge option for youth
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CUSTOMER ACQUISITION AND RETENTION STRATEGIES
The company knows that they are trying to position themselves into a very established and competitive market. They understand the fact that they cannot start making profit from day one neither they have plans for it; they anticipate to achieve a subscriber base of 5 million in next three years and will make profit afterwards they will be able to break even in three year or so. Sir Richard once said, “We want to deliver a more tailored and relevant offering for a single segment.” Company targets only 10% of the above mentioned segment and have plans to acquire and retain them by various innovative propositions, some of them are1) Providing services which were not offered so far a) Get paid for incoming calls. b) 50 paisa calls across the country. c) A brand truly meant for the young India which is reflected at each & every touch point. d) Extensive data service offers in the form of Vbytes. e) Excellent value added plans. f) Go online facility for enquiry, purchasing phone, recharging and everything. g) One-touch VAS access from every virgin mobile. 2) Providing services which others are not providing meticulously a) Easy to change the handset from a wide range of handset providing at very reasonable prices b) Boring customer care services telling you are in queue. c) One customer care officer dedicated for all queries of one customer leading to transparency. d) No jammed or bad network coverage. e) Tailor made customized plans without any hidden charges. f) No monthly bills.
VALUE CREATION THROUGH PRODUCT DESIGN:
Various steps that Virgin is taking to add value to the customer are on price, quality, technology and social front. Company is providing the best prices in whichever plan you go, quality of signals is not only comparable but better than most of the service providers, on technology front it is the first in India to go for one-touch VAS access from every Virgin Mobile.
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MARKETING MIX:
The marketing mix is the combination of marketing activities that an organization in so as to best meet the needs of its targeted market. Product: Virgin Mobile offers six RUIM enabled handsets with colour screen, FM radio and include one touch access for Vbytes-Virgin Mobile’s VAS portal.
Price: The handsets are priced in the range of Rs2000-5000.The call tariff is very nominal which is 50p per call both local and STD subject to terms and conditions. Place: The focus of Virgin Mobile on customer acquisition has so far been in the top 60 cities of India and is set to extend to more cities. The product is available across a host of modern retail outlets The Mobile Store, Hotspot, RPG Cellucom, Croma etc. Promotion: Virgin Mobile entered the Indian market in grand style. The company surprised the readers of a leading Indian daily when all the headlines on the front page were in the colour red. Virgin Mobile has used a very vibrant colour to relate itself with the targeted market. Apart from traditional media, internet and outdoor youth centric advertising has been used wisely to attract the targeted audience.
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DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL:
Virgin mobile makes its products available to the customer by both retail stores and online distribution. Selective Distribution: Virgin mobile has selected some retail outlets to distribute its products. It does not follow the strategy of intensive and exclusive distribution. The strategy of selective distribution helps the company gain optimum market coverage and more control but at a lesser cost than intensive distribution. Virgin Mobile launched a new mobile handset vBling on 7 July 2008. vBling is available across 15,000 outlets nationally and over Mobile 1000 modern retail outlets including The Store, Univercell, Croma, Convergem, Big C, Vishal Mega Mart, Vijay Sales and
Sangeetha to name a few. Apart from this, the handset will also be available in 34 kiosks in high traffic malls across the country. Online Distribution: Virgin Mobile I ndia has announced that customer s can now buy Virgin Mobile branded products and services online. They just need to select the handset, plan and number of their choice by filling an online form. Post the payment transaction, handsets will be delivered to the customer within 24 - 48 hours and the requisite documents for proof of identity will be collected in person. Customer s taking advantage of online shopping will also be offered additional talk time, extra messages as well as other freebies. Disintermediation and re-aggregation: The different features of the online distribution are stated as follows: • Intermediary becomes redundant as technology • Customization becomes easier and feasible which adds to the customer value. • Re- aggregation occurs in the sense that companies today encourage customers to lodge their complaints or send their queries on the net. These are then routed to another site where they are dealt with immediately in a seamless manner. So it helps in improving the overall efficiency of the channel. For the delivery of the ordered products Virgin Mobile has tied up with Blue Dart.
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customer buys
directly from the firm using web
CUSTOMER RESEARCH:
In order to understand target market’s expectation and virgin customers experience about the product, we have done a survey with a sample size of 45. The questionnaire was prepared and sent across to the customer and also the feedback was collected in person. Sampling Procedure used: Random Sampling
FINDINGS:
1) Gender
Gender
47% 53%
Male Female
47 % of the respondents were Male while 53% of the respondents were Female.
2) Age
Age
4%
19%
16 ? 25 26 ? 35 77% 36 & above
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As per the data, 77% of the respondents fall in the 16 – 25 age category followed by 19% in the 26 – 35 category. 3) Occupation
Occupation
4% 8% Student Service 28% 60% Business Home Maker
According to the survey, 60% were students and 28% of the respondents were doing service. While 8% were doing business, only 4% were home makers.
4) Income
Income
2% Below 1 lakh 28% 1 ? 4 lakhs 4 ? 7 lakhs 38% 7 lakhs and above
32%
32% of the respondents had incomes above 7 lakhs, while 38% fell in the 4 – 7 lakhs category 28% were in the 1 – 4 lakhs category.
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5) A Awareness: It wa found out that from the total resp as t t pondents Vi irgin enjoyed 95.7% aw wareness. Th his show that custom are cle ws mers early aware o the presen of Virgi mobiles s of nce in services in th he Cellu Service P ular Provider cat tegory
4.26% 4
Aware Unaware 95.74%
6) L Luring facto or: Out o the total r of respondents (N = 47) 95 5.74% said that the sing most imp gle portant facto or that led to their purchase of Virgin serv l f vices was th 10-paisa credit per in he ncoming cal ll. This was followed by 70% response in favor of C n Catchy adver rtisements s showcased o on televi ision by Virg Mobile S gin Services.
Percen ntage
120 0% 100 0% 80 0% 60 0% 40 0% 20 0% 0% 0 Catchy Ads 10 pais sa offer Lu ucrative Sc chemes Br rand Name Yout Centric Brand
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7) U Usage: Out O of the to Virgin Users that is N = 47 it was found that 49.55% used Virgi otal U s % in se ervices for le than 6 m ess months while 29.78% use it for the l than 3 m ed less months. It wa as 23.40 for less than a year & 4.25% of the respond s r f dents claime to have us it for ove ed sed er a year. This c clearly shows that while Virgin Serv vices were go at gettin customer t ood ng to bu their serv uy vices they fa ailed to provi what cus ide stomers look forward t and henc ked too ce fo ound it diffic to retain customers. cult n
45. .00% 40. .00% 35. .00% 30. .00% 25. .00% 20. .00% 15. .00% 10. .00% 5. .00% 0. .00% s than 3 Less months Less than 6 months Less than a year More th han a year
8) O Overall Satis sfaction with Virgin Mobile Servic ces: 70.21 of the re 1% espondent sa that they were not s aid y satisfied with Virgin Mo h obile service es and h hence switch to other services du to various problems f hed ue s faced whilst using Virgi t in Mobi Services. This is a hu number a is a caus of concern for Virgin. ile uge and se n .
29.7 78% Satisfied Dissatisfied 70.21%
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9) P Problems fac ced: On O delving de eeper into th problem it was found that those w were dis he who ssatisfied wit th Virgin faced t followin problems: V the ng
100 0% 90 0% 80 0% 70 0% 60 0% 50 0% 40 0% 30 0% 20 0% 10 0% 0% 0
87.80% %
75.75%
69.69% 1 12.12%
60% 60.6 % 18.18% 6.06%
Av vailabilty No N of Expensive Poor Charges for Bad Lack o Custome er calling network pr roblems 3G, V VOIP value e Care and o other adding g customer su uch scheme es Service care features
Poor customer C Care Services & problem with the same, Bad N s ms s Network, No platform fo o or o G , d of or or use of Features such as 3G VOIP etc, were cited as some o the majo reasons fo dissat tisfaction. While it was seen that ro W oughly 30% of the user were satisfied they sti rs ill claim to have f med faced problems whilst us sing Virgin s services, how wever on an overall base n es they were happy with Virgin Services. M of the problems fac by them were simila n Most p ced m ar to tho faced abo ose ove. 10) Sw witching tre end: From the primar research that we carr m ry t ried out it w found th 70.21% of Vodafon was hat ne users switched t Virgin Mobile Serv to M vices during their yout centric promotion via g th p ision adverti isements and print. 14.8 d 89% were A Airtel users w whereas 10.6 65% & 4.25% % televi were Loop mobil and MTN users resp le NL pectively. Th shows th Virgin mobile service his hat es into the custo omer base of Vodafone. f were able to eat i
Befo ore
10.65% 4. .25% Vodafo one Airtel Loop M Mobile 70 0.21%
14 4.89%
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Howe ever due to dissatisfaction with the services pro ovided by V Virgin mobile services th e he users switched b back to eith the sam service provider as before or another on her me p ne. ever it is cle early seen th some of the previous Vodafone users had n hat now shifted t to Howe Airtel. Howe ever it was f found that so ome Virgin customers w were satisfied & continued to hang o d on to Virgin.
Afte er
8.62% 25% 4.2
Vdafon ne 10.63% 48 8.90% Airtel Tata Do ocomo Virgin 27.60% Relianc ce
Customer Lo oyalty towards Virgin M Mobile Serv vices: 11) C Seein that a ma chunk o the respon ng ajor of ndents who w were users o Virgin mo of obile service es were not too happ with the V py Virgin Servi ices, it doesn come as a surprise th the loyalt n’t hat ty enjoy by Virgin with regar to these c yed n rds customers is very poor.
I co onsider m myself lo oyal to V Virgin M Mobile Ser rvices
60% % 50% % 40% % 30% % 20% % 10% % 0% % Strongly Disagree Dis sagree Neither Disagree nor Agree Agree 4.25% 8.51% 0% Agree Strongly A 1.91% 31 55.31 1%
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I always rec commen nd Virgin n Mobile e Serv vices to m my friends
60% % 50% % 40% % 30% % 20% % 10% % 0% 0% % Strongly ee Disagre Disag gree Ne either Disag gree nor Ag gree Agree Strongly Agree 0% 2.70% 12 48.90% % 38.2 29%
Virg gin Mobi ile Services is my favorit te brand d among g cellular service e providers
80% % 70% % 60% % 50% % 40% % 30% % 20% % 10% % 0% % Strongly ee Disagre Disag gree Ne either Disag gree nor gree Ag Agree Strongly Agree 10.6 63% 2.76% 12 4.25% 0% 72.34% %
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Virg gin Mob bile Serv vices is th he only brand th hat i nee ed in the e categor ry of cellular service provide ers
70% % 60% % 50% % 40% % 30% % 20% % 10% % 0% % Strongly Disagree Disagree Ne either Disagree e nor Agree 21.27% 12.76% 0.00% Agree 0.00 0% Strongly y Agree 65.90 0%
Thus the loyalty factor is a h huge proble that Virg Mobile s em gin services have to seriousl e ly look at if they ha to impro This sho that wh ave ove. ows hilst they are able to attra customer e act rs ugh e nd ds, u tain them. L Loyalty come es throu lucrative schemes an catchy ad they are unable to ret when the custom begins to believe that the produ n mer o uct/service m meets his/her needs in a r all possi ible ways, w which in turn can be ach n hieved throu providin great expe ugh ng erience of th he servic ce/product. Thus Virgin needs to focus on d determining the critical factors that l Custo omers look for in a Ser rvice provide thereby in er ncreasing th chance of providing t he f to the cu ustomer, the best possibl experienc when they use the Vir e le ce y rgin Mobile service. s
ANALYS SIS:
CORRELA ATION:
1) Satisfaction nwith VirginServ vices Satisfa actionwithVi irgin Pearso on Service es Corre elation Sig. (2 2-tailed) N Age Pearso on Corre elation Sig. (2 2-tailed) N
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Age A 1 .076 .612
47 .076 .612 47
47 1
47
17
There was a correlation analysis done to find out a relation between Age and Satisfaction by using Virgin Mobile services. A Pearson co-efficient value of .076 indicates that there is a slight positive correlation between Age and the satisfaction of Virgin services. Correlation analysis was also carried out independently with variables of Gender, Income and Occupation however there was no significant relation found with the satisfaction of Virgin services.
FACTOR ANALYSIS:
Output data: Communalities Initial IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforlucrativeschem esitoffer IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforitsCustomerCa reServiceis IchooseaCellularServiceProviderfortheconnectivit yitoffers IchooseaCellularServiceProviderbasedonitsavailab ilty IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforPopularityamo ngstfriends IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforvalueaddedser vices Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 Extraction .822 .598 .295 .722 .341 .789
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Total Variance Explained Co mp one nt Initial Eigenvalues % of Varianc Cumulat Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 2.171 1.395 .954 .814 .472 .195 e 36.184 23.253 15.893 13.564 7.862 ive % Total 36.184 2.171 59.437 1.395 75.330 88.894 96.755 Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings % of Varianc e 36.184 23.253 Cumulative % 36.184 59.437 Total 1.999 1.568 % of Variance 33.310 26.127 Cumulativ e% 33.310 59.437 Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings
3.245 100.000
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Component Matrix(a) Component 1 IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforlucrativeschem esitoffer IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforitsCustomerCa reServiceis IchooseaCellularServiceProviderfortheconnectivit yitoffers IchooseaCellularServiceProviderbasedonitsavailab ilty IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforPopularityamo ngstfriends IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforvalueaddedser vices Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. a 2 components extracted.
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2 .852 -.200 .441 .502 -.480 .853 -.308 -.747 .317 .686 .333 -.247
Rotated Component Matrix(a) Component 1 IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforlucrativeschem esitoffer IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforitsCustomerCa reServiceis IchooseaCellularServiceProviderfortheconnectivit yitoffers IchooseaCellularServiceProviderbasedonitsavailab ilty IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforPopularityamo ngstfriends IchooseaCellularServiceProviderforvalueaddedser vices Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. a Rotation converged in 3 iterations. .897 .176 .239 .119 -.580 .869 2 .130 -.753 .488 .841 .067 .185
Component Transformation Matrix Component 1 2 1 .882 -.471 2 .471 .882
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
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Interpretation of Factor Analysis: Schemes and Services are the most important factors that are taken into consideration when people buy cellular services. The other factors that are important are Availability and Connectivity. Factors on the basis of importance 1) Schemes & Services 2) Availability 3) Connectivity Together these three factors account for roughly around 75% of the variance. If Virgin has to attract more young customers it has to focus on the Schemes and Services. The Schemes & Services that it provides should be much more attractive and valuable than the ones provided by the market leaders i.e. Airtel & Vodafone.
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PERCEPTUAL MAPPING:
Output data: >>Number of parameters is 20. Number of data values is 45 Iteration history for the 2 dimensional solution (in squared distances) Young's S-stress formula 1 is used. Iteration 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 S-stress .22373 .17277 .16847 .16657 .16440 .16058 .15691 .15472 .15331 .15204 .15054 .14824 .14389 .13564 .12876 .12556 .12164 .11584 .10810 .09939 .09114 .08428 .07903 .07523 .05096 .00431 .00190 .00217 .00381 .00368 .00218 .00142 .00127 .00150 .00230 .00435 .00824 .00688 .00320 .00392 .00580 .00773 .00871 .00825 .00686 .00525 .00380
22
Improvement
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.07253 .07073 .06951 .06869
.00269 .00180 .00122 .00081
Iterations stopped because S-stress improvement is less than .001000
Stress and squared correlation (RSQ) in distances RSQ values are the proportion of variance of the scaled data (disparities) in the partition (row, matrix, or entire data) which is accounted for by their corresponding distances. Stress values are Kruskal's stress formula 1. For matrix Stress = .04260 RSQ = .99238
Stimulus Coordinates Stimulus Stimulus Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Name 1 2
Vodafone 1.6346 -1.6411 Airtel Virgin 1.8064 -.3073 -.9795 .4960 .7619
Reliance .6422 MTNL Loop MTS Idea Aircel
TataIndi -.7674 .4588 -1.4187 -.8672 -.7689 .4549 -1.4186 -.8683 .6350 .7562 .6350 .7562
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Derived Stimulus Configuration
Euclidean distance model
1.0
Aircel Virgin Idea Loop Reliance
0.5
TataIndicom
Dimension 2
0.0
Airtel
-0.5
MTNL
-1.0
MTS
-1.5
Vodafone
-2.0 -2 0 2
Dimension 1
Analysis of Perceptual Mapping: From the Perceptual Mapping we can clearly see four groups. First group includes Virgin, Tata, & Loop. The Second group includes Idea, Reliance and Aircel. The third group includes MTNL & MTS. The fourth group consists of Airtel and Vodafone. From the factor analysis that was concluded it can be concluded that dimension 2 could be taken as Schemes & Services where Airtel and Vodafone clock very high and Virgin clocks very high. Dimension 1could be customer complaints where Vodafone and Airtel clock very low and Virgin clocks very high. Since a 2 dimensional analysis was done the dimensions cannot be confirmed to accuracy. Virgin in order to increase its market share has to focus on Schemes & Services and try to resolve customer complaints efficiently and effectively.
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
1) Virgin should try to promote its latest plans like 50 paisa STD calls in advertisements. Making customers aware about latest pricing will increase its market share in terms of cost effectiveness. 2) Virgin should try to tap 14% of customer base who want to switch to virgin but not able to switch because of existing non-compatible handset. 3) Solving existing non-compatible handset problem and better communication to inform latest pricing strategies will lead to substantial increase in consumer base for virgin mobile. 4) In order to enhance customer satisfaction, time gap between services sought and delivered should be minimized.
LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH:
The research was carried out with a relatively smaller sample size of 45 respondents which may be difficult to generalize for a larger audience.
CONCLUSION:
Virgin Mobile has entered into a very competitive industry where Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance are the dominant players. Virgin Mobile faces stiff competition from Reliance CDMA phones. Virgin Mobile have taken a ‘hatke’ route and launched the brand in the youth segment. The tie-up with Tata Teleservices enables it to fight competition as the network quality of Tata Teleservices was ranked first by DOT. The company is spending huge chunks of money to promote their VAS services. Virgin should try to promote its latest plans more prominently in their advertisements. Making customers aware about latest pricing will increase its market share in terms of cost effectiveness. Virgin mobiles projects its image as that of a brand for youth which may not go well with the conservative Indian consumer. Therefore they should try to build up an image that is cool and links with the youth but not offending to other segments. Getting involved in social activities can help Virgin in projecting a serious and responsible image. Finally, to keep up in the highly competitive market, innovation and exciting new offers will help in devising a differentiation strategy.
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QUESTIONAIRE on Virgin Mobile Services:
Please spare a moment to fill out this customer satisfaction questionnaire 1) Name * 2) Gender * Male Female 3) Occupation * Business Service Home maker Student Other: 4) Age * Below 15 16-25 26-35 35 & above 5) Family Income * below 1 lakh 1 - 4 Lakh 4 - 7 Lakh 7 Lakh and Above 6) Do you own a Mobile handset * Yes No
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7) Which of the following Cellular Service Providers are you aware of? * Vodafone Tata Docomo Airtel Reliance Idea Loop Mobile Virgin MTS MTNL Other: 8) State your current Cellular Service Provider * Vodafone Tata Docomo Airtel Reliance Idea Loop Mobile Virgin MTS MTNL Aircel Other:
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9) I choose a Cellular Service Provider based on the lucrative schemes that it offers me * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
10) I choose a Cellular Service Provider based on how good its Customer Care Service is * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
11) I choose a Cellular Service Provider based on the connectivity that it offers me * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
12) I choose a Cellular Service Provider based on its availability * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
13) I choose a Cellular Service Provider based on its Popularity amongst my friends * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
14) I choose a Cellular Service Provider based on the value added services that it offers me * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
15) Have you ever used Virgin Mobile Service * Yes No
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16) You got to know about Virgin Mobile Services through * Television Ads Print Ads Radio Internet Word of mouth 17) For how long have you used Virgin Mobile Services * Only those who have answered yes to the above question Less than 3 months Less than 6 months Less than a year More than a year 18) Which Cellular Service Provider had you been using before you switched over to Virgin Mobile Services? * Vodafone Tata Docomo Airtel Reliance Idea Loop Mobile MTS MTNL Aircel Other: 19) What was the factor that was critical in your selection of Virgin Mobile Services? * 10 paisa credit per incoming call Catchy Ads Brand Name (Association with Richard Branson) Youth centric brand Lucrative Schemes Other:
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20) Rate on a scale of 1-5, Virgin Mobiles Services, against the following cellular service providers * (1: pathetic, 5: Excellent) 1 Vodafone Airtel Virgin Mobile Services Reliance Tata Indicom Loop Mobile MTNL MTS Idea Aircel 21) I consider myself loyal to Virgin Mobile Services * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree 2 3 4 5
22) I always recommend Virgin Mobile Services to my friends * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
23) Virgin Mobile Services is my favorite brand among cellular service providers * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
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24) Virgin Mobile Services is the only brand that I need in the category of cellular service providers * 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree
25) Would you say that you are satisfied with Virgin Mobile Services? * Yes No 26) State the problems encountered while using Virgin Mobile Services (For those who answered No to the above question) Poor customer care service Charges for calling customer care Bad network Availability problems Non functioning of 3G, VOIP and other such features Lack of value adding schemes Expensive Other: 27) What changes would you like to see in Virgin Mobile Services that would entice you to continue to use it/use it in the future? *
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doc_161378020.pdf