Description
A specific combination of promotional methods used for one product or a family of products. Elements of a promotion mix may include print or broadcast advertising, direct marketing, personal selling, point of sale displays, and/or merchandising.
ADVERTISING & PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES
INTRODUCTION:
An Advertising strategy is a campaign developed to communicate ideas about products and services to potential consumers in the hopes of convincing them to buy those products and services. This strategy, when built in a rational and intelligent manner, will reflect other business considerations (overall budget, brand recognition efforts) and objectives (public image enhancement, customer perception towards product, market share growth) as well. An advertising strategy is designed to sell a product. It is a one-way form of communication, from company to consumer, geared toward giving consumers the information necessary to make a purchasing decision. Advertisements tell consumers about the product and how to get it. The purpose of advertising is to sell products and to build brand name. The Promotional strategy is a two-way interaction between company and consumer designed primarily to increase sales, often by attracting new customers. Brand building is a side effect of promotional strategies, but it is not the purpose. Promotional strategies give away something, whether it is free product, money or other awards, as a way to bring in consumers who may not be attracted to the product under normal circumstances. The promotional strategy is usually short lived and can be less expensive than large advertising campaigns, making it ideal for small to medium companies that need to build a name or introduce a product quickly. Examples of a promotional strategy include giving away coupons, printed information or free products. Now-a-days, most advertising & promotional strategies focus on achieving three general goals: 1) Promote awareness of a business and its product or services; 2) Stimulate sales directly and "attract competitors' customers"; and 3) Establish or modify a business' image Advertising is a persuasive communication attempt to change or reinforce ones’ prior attitude that is predictable of future behavior. We are not born with the attitudes which we hold toward various objects in our environment. Rather, we learn our feelings of favorability or not
favorability through information about the attitude object (e.g., advertising), or direct experience with the attitude object (e.g., tasting a new brand of beer), or some combination of the two. Attitudes are not overt behaviors but rather are covert, or unobservable, internal reactions. Furthermore, once a certain type of attitudes are formed and repeatedly reinforced, the attitude toward objects is stored in consumers’ memory as a form of either explicit or implicit memory. And those episodes of attitudes are retrieved automatically or strategically at the time of decision making, which generate certain types of reactions. Given that attitudes have traditionally been viewed as evaluations that are stored in memory and persist over time, the constructs of memory and attitude are extremely valuable construct to understand how advertising work. Also, the discussion about the underlying mechanisms of forming attitude and memory should be addressed.
DEFINITION:
A business's advertising strategy "determines the character of the company's public face." ----- Alexander Hiam and Charles D. Schewe
NEED OF THE STUDY:
The current study intends to measure on the following: • To study the impact of idea advertisements on consumer buying decisions. It is known fact that the recent idea advertisements which are endorsed by Abhishek Bachan have become very popular. • To understand how far the awareness created by these advertisements help company to increase its sales.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:
1. 2. To measure the awareness levels of recent idea cellular advertisements To measure the influence of advertisement on customer buying decision.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY:
Scope of the current study is limited to idea cellular customers and non customers who are residing in Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
A system of collecting data for research projects is known as research methodology. The data may be collected for either theoretical or practical research. Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In it we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying his research problem along with the logic behind them.
RESEARCH DESIGN:
Task of defining the research problem is the preparation of the research project, popularly known as the “research design”. Decisions regarding what, where, when, how much, by what means concerning an inquiry or a research study constitute a research design. A research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure. It is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project.
SAMPLE METHOD:
A random sampling method was used for the purpose of this study. Data were collected from both customers and non customers of idea cellular.
DATA COLLECTION:
For the purpose of the study data has been collected through two sources among that 1) Primary source 2) Secondary source
• PRIMARY DATA:
For the primary source data is collected through structured questionnaire,
• SECONDARY DATA: Secondary data is collected from company websites, company
broacher’s journals and articles about the company
• TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES:
Data has been analyzed using frequency tables, cross tabulations, pie diagrams and bar charts.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:
a) Questionnaires were administered at idea cellular show rooms and at few public places. b) As the data has been collected from the existing customers of idea cellular, their previous experience with the company may have influenced current opinions. c) Non customers of idea cellular may be the users of other cellular service providers, so the experience with their current service provider may have influenced their opinions. d) Timing of questionnaire administration may have influenced the data.
COMPANY PROFILE:
As India's leading GSM Mobile Services operator, IDEA Cellular has licenses to operate in 11 circles. With a customer base of over 17 million, IDEA Cellular has operations in Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, UP-West, Himachal Pradesh, UP-East, Rajasthan and Kerala. IDEA Cellular's footprint currently covers approximately 45% of India's population and over 50% of the potential telecommarket. 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 Email 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 Cellular is part of the Aditya Birla Group, which is India's first truly multinational corporation. 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 around 57 per cent. With ambitious future plans, the company is poised for rapid growth.
HISTORY:
Idea Cellular's history dates back to the year 1995,when it was in corporated as Birla Communications Services The following year, the company entered into a joint venture with Grasim industries and the global telecom giant AT&T. The same year, its name was changed to Birla AT&T Communications Limited. A merger with Tata Cellular Limited took place in 2000. In 2002, the company created the brand ‘Idea' and changed its name to idea Cellular Limited. The same year it launched operations in delhi and crossed the one million subscriber base; in 2005, it crossed the subscriber base of five million. In 2006, the Tata Group transferred all its shares to the aditya birla Group and the group became the largest shareholder in the company. In 2007, Idea came with an IPO and got listed on the bourses the same year it reached the subscriber base of 2 0 million. The chronology of key events of the Company from incorporation is set out below: Calendar Year Events • 2010: Acquired Escorts Telecommunications Limited (subsequently renamed as Idea Telecommunications Limited)
• •
2006: Became part of the Aditya Birla Group subsequent to the TATA Group transferring its entire shareholding in the Company to the Aditya Birla Group 2004: Completed debt restructuring for the then existing debt facilities and additional funding for the Delhi Circle. Acquired Escotel Mobile Communications Limited (subsequently renamed as Idea Mobile Communications Limited) Reached the four million subscriber mark First operator in India to commercially launch EDGE services 2005 Reached the five million subscriber mark Turned profit positive Won an award for the "Bill Flash" service at the GSM Association Awards in Barcelona, Spain, Sponsored the International Indian Film Academy Awards
• •
2003: Reached the two million subscriber mark 2002: Changed name to Idea Cellular Limited and launched "Idea" brand name Commenced commercial operations in Delhi Circle Reached the one million subscriber mark
•
2001: Acquired RPG Cellular Limited and consequently the license for the Madhya Pradesh (including Chhattisgarh) Circle Changed name to Birla Tata AT&T Limited Obtained license for providing GSM-based services in the Delhi Circle following the fourth operator GSM license bidding process
• • • • •
2000: Merged with Tata Cellular Limited, thereby acquiring original license for the Andhra Pradesh Circle 1999: Migrated to revenues share license fee regime under New Telecommunication Policy ("NTP") 1997: Commenced operations in the Gujarat and Maharashtra Circles 1996: Changed name to Birla AT&T Communications Limited following joint venture between Grasim Industries and AT&T Corporation 1995: Incorporated as Birla Communications Limited Obtained licenses for providing GSM-based services in the Gujarat and Maharashtra Circles following the original GSM
license bidding process. Acquired Escotel, incumbent cellular service provider in Haryana, UP (W) & Kerala and new licensee in HP Brand IDEA launched Delhi operations commence (Nov) Acquired RPG Cell com, service provider in Madhya Pradesh (Feb) Awarded MOU for merger between Birla AT&T and Tata Cellular Limited Andhra Pradesh Signed (Jan) Birla AT&T commence Cellular operations Maharashtra & Gujarat We are part of the Aditya Birla Group and all our Promoters are companies belonging to the Aditya Birla Group.
OUR CIRCLES:
The Indian telecommunications market for mobile services is divided into 23 “Circles”. There are four “metropolitan” Circles, covering the cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, and 19 Circles classified by the Government as category “A”, category “B” or category “C”, which cover the rest of India. These classifications are based principally on a Circle’s revenue generating potential, with metropolitan and category A Circles having the highest revenue potential. 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.
ABOUT IDEA CELLULAR LTD
LAUNCH OF 3G SERVICES:
Your Company, in 2010, won spectrum in 2100 MHz band in 11 service areas. Idea has launched 3G services in all these service areas (except Punjab) and has entered into roaming
arrangement with other operators to provide 3G services in remaining service areas (except Orissa). At the end of FY12, Idea 3G services are available in more than 3,000 towns and 10,000 villages, in 20 service areas. Idea`s 3G services, considered to be one of the best, connect to the world of faster internet with the speed of up to 21 Mbps, video calling and conferencing on the handset, Mobile TV, Idea Mall applications store, besides being capable of many other futuristic services. Idea has introduced a choice of affordable data billing option for Pre-paid and Post-paid subscribers, including time based billing plans for 3G services, enabling users to avail high end data services without worrying about the volume of usage. Idea is the first company to introduce the sachet pricing at as low as Rs. 8 for trial purpose and attractive `Gigabyte` bundles, targeted towards medium to heavy users. With launch of 3G services and improvement in 3G ecosystem in terms of devices, applications and contents, your Company is all set to exploit the untapped wireless broadband data market and other emerging verticals of revenue like Mobile banking, M-commerce, M-health, M-education etc.
POWER BRAND:
Idea is envisioned as a `Champion` brand, driven by a cause. Our mission is to shift paradigms, making mobile telephony a way of life. To be a leader in the fast changing telecom industry, it is important to be ahead of the times. Idea represents innovation and vitality, is imaginative and future ready. Idea strives to build preference for the brand through its services. Idea`s communication has been about simple ideas that have the potential to change your life. It paints a picture of possibilities that lift mobile telephony from just communication to being an enabler of positive change in the lives of millions. We have creatively used the role mobile services are playing in uniting the country and providing innovative suggestions to long standing societal issues. The brand communication is designed to be perceived as humane, caring, warm and friendly. This framework has led to the creation of some very noticeable and memorable advertising like the Caste War, Education for all, Use Mobile Save Paper, Break the Language Barrier and Population (India busy on Idea 3G), which have not only won many awards but also millions of hearts.
IDEA – BRAND VALUES: Innovate. Stimulate. Liberate....
It is these brand values, which have made us a formidable player in the telecom industry. Innovations that stimulate the customer and liberate him from the shackles of time and space are the core of our brand. This is what we strive for. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.
THE BRAND IDEA:
It is almost impossible to disintegrate brand Idea from the corporate Idea. Brand values are the company values and vice versa.
BRAND VISION:
It goes without saying that the brand vision of idea mirrors the company’s vision. The brand mission statement is...... To be the most customer-focused mobile service brand, continuously innovating to help liberate our customers from the shackles of time & space.
IDEA – BRAND MISSION:
The India footprint Idea Anywhere connectivity - bringing India closer. The Technology Advantage Idea Tomorrow's technology to enrich today. The Customer Focus Idea Make a single interaction a lasting relations The Employee Focus Idea Nurture the roots that nurture our ideas. LAUNCH OF IDEA SMARTPHONES: In an effort to accelerate the adoption of 3G services, Idea Tele systems Limited launched Idea smart phones at attractive price points enabling the subscribers to experience and exploit the world of such services.
MOBILE BANKING:
Idea Mobile Commerce Services Limited (IMCSL), provides Mobile Banking services through an alliance with Axis Bank with a facility titled `Idea My Cash` which provides basic banking services including money transfer using the mobile platform. This is a mobile based financial inclusion initiative, which besides providing basic banking services to the unbanked, like cash deposit, cash withdrawal and balance enquiry, will also enable money transfer, to the migrant population in urban areas for remitting their funds to the beneficiaries back home. RBI has recently increased the limit for the transaction for the Semi Closed Prepaid Instruments from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 50,000 and has also permitted money transfer from peer to peer and back to his bank account. IMCSL is exploring this business opportunity.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
"Stay Connected" is a brand promise that looks at the key purpose of mobile telephony. It converges with the tangible requirement of 'network depth' & at the same time, reflects the eternal human need for bonding, kinsman ship, and relationship forming. This new brand campaign enables Idea to own the biggest category benefit of "keeping people connected", through a simple, unique and likeable expression of connectivity. And it makes consumers aware that "no one connects better than Idea". Slated to run through 2004, the campaign utilizes all relevant mainline media to propagate the message to its audiences with 60-second commercial and its various edits, print campaign & outdoor publicity. Apart from it, various innovative media / events has been used to further strengthen the message.
MODELS OF ADVERTISEMENTS:
VARIOUS SERVICE PROVIDERS IN INDIA
AIRCEL LIMITED:
Aircel Limited is the Cellular Operator in Tamil Nadu Cellular Circle (Tamil Nadu except Chennai and including Pondicherry). Aircel Limited is a part of the Sterling InfoTech Group founded by Mr. C. Sivasankaran. The Sterling Group has been in operation for over 2 decades and is promoting the cause of stable business opportunities catering to a need-based society thus contributing significantly to the quality of life for people across the country. Tracing its roots back to the early 80s, the Sterling Group revolutionized the then infantile PC Market with the launch of a series of Siva PCs. The Technology partners of Aircel are Ericsson who provides the Mobile Switching Centers and Base Stations & Fujitsu who provide the MW Backbone. Aircel has a network of more than 100 exclusive agents across Tamil Nadu. Launch of services: Aircel launched its operations in April 1999.
AIRCEL DIG LINK INDIA LIMITED:
Aircel Dig link India Limited, provides cellular services in the circles of Haryana, Rajasthan and UP (East) under the brand name "Essar". The Essar Group is one of India's leading business conglomerates, with an asset base of over US$ 4 billion (Rs. 170 billion). The Group is committed to the development of core sector and infrastructure businesses in India and abroad. Essar Group is actively involved in five principal businesses viz., Steel, Shipping, Oil & Gas, Power and Telecommunications. The company uses world-renowned technology from Siemens in building and operating its North Indian Network. ADIL offers a basket of GSM Phase I and Phase II features. It offers voice, fax, data and other facilities. Launch of services: Aircel Dig link India Limited (ADIL), was incorporated in March 1995 and was subsequently inducted into the Essar group in 1996.
BHARTI CELLULAR LIMITED:
Bharti Cellular Limited is the cellular licensee for the Delhi (Metro), Mumbai (Metro), UP (W), Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, MP. The company offers services under the brand name "AIRTEL". Airtel has been immeasurably strengthened by its partnership with British Telecom U.K. and Telecom Italia of Italy. Airtel services are in technical alliance with Ericsson, has provided Airtel subscribers with a truly world class network. Bharti Mobile Limited offers services in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab under the brand name "Airtel". Bharti Mobile Limited, a joint venture of Bharti Enterprises and Telia. Airtel comes to you from Bharti Mobile Ltd. Its key focus is on the marketing and operations of a comprehensive range of telecom services in addition to the Healthcare sector. Launch of Services: Karnataka: Airtel launched its services in Karnataka on May 13,2000. The services in Punjab started in February 2002.
BPL CELLULAR LIMITED:
BPL Cellular Limited (BCL) is the licensee to provide cellular mobile services in the States of Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai but including Goa), Tamil Nadu (excluding Chennai but including Pondicherry) and Kerala. The company offers services under the brand name BPL Mobile. BPL Cellular Ltd. is a joint venture between, BPL, India's No.1 Consumer durable giant and AT&T Broadband. A reliable and world-class quality network supported by world's leading technology vendors like NOKIA, MOTOROLA and LHS. The company has in-house technical expertise in RF planning and initially used the tool Planet, licensed from Mobile Systems International (MSI), to plan the KR engineering and network design for each of the circles. Launch of Services: The company commenced services in January 1997 in Pune, Maharashtra. Since its first year of operations, the company has been offering a wide range of products and services.
BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LIMITED (BSNL):
On October 1, 2000 the Department of Telecom Operations, Government of India became a corporation and was christened Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). Today, BSNL is the No. 1 Telecommunications Company and the largest Public Sector Undertaking of India and its responsibilities include improvement of the already impeccable quality of telecom services, expansion of telecom network, introduction of new telecom services in all villages and instilling confidence among its customers. Responsibilities that BSNL has managed to shoulder remarkably, deftly. Today with a 43million line capacity, 99.9% of its exchanges digital, nationwide Network management & surveillance system (NMSS) to control telecom traffic and nearly 3, 55,632 route kms of OFC network, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is a name to reckon with in the world of connectivity. Along with its vast customer base, BSNL's financial and asset bases too are vast and strong. Consider the figures, as they speak volumes on BSNL’s standing.
ESCOTEL MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS:
Escotel Mobile Communications operates cellular phone services in state circles of Uttar Pradesh (West), Haryana and Kerala. The company offers cellular services under the brand name of Escotel. Escotel Mobile Communications is a joint venture company between Escorts Limited and the First Pacific Company Limited of Hong Kong. Escorts Limited has 51 per cent equity stake in Escotel, while First Pacific holds 49 per cent. First Pacific Company Limited with a market capitalization of $2 billion and a turnover of $2.9 billion is a global corporation that operates in 20 countries. It has interests in telecommunication, banking, real estate and marketing. The company employs over 50,000 people worldwide. First Pacific has been a pioneer in bringing digital cellular technology in Hong Kong and now operates the biggest and fastest. The technology partners of Escotel are Lucent Technologies (formerly Bell Labs) & Sema Group Telecom, UK Launch of Services: Escotel commenced operations in December 1996/ January 1997 and was the first to launch its service in all the three circles.
HEXACOM INDIA LIMITED:
Hexacom India Ltd. is the cellular licensee of Rajasthan and operates under the brand name "Oasis Cellular". Hexacom India Ltd. has been promoted by a consortium of Telecom majors including Shy am Telecom Limited (STL), Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) and Tele systems International Wireless (TIW), Canada. TCIL is a public sector unit under the Ministry of Communications. One of the leading telecom companies, it is the only Government agency to have a presence in the cellular market. TCIL has projects in over 30 countries. Shy am Telecom Limited is an ISO 9001 company and one of the largest suppliers of radio, microwave and other telecom equipments in India, with established research and development expertise and a strong export arm. STL is the licensee to provide basic telecom services in Rajasthan and it is all set to start operations with the brand name "Tele Links".. TIW is dedicated to wireless operations, basic services and is a specialist in high growth markets. TIW is also a leading provider of trunked mobile radio services in France and the UK, as well as paging services in Mexico and the Netherlands.
IDEA CELLULAR LIMITED:
IDEA Cellular Limited, formally known as Birla Tata AT&T Communication Limited is the cellular operator in the circles Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi (Metro) under the brand name "IDEA". Technologically Birla AT&T Communication Limited has adopted the superior CME-20 system architecture from Ericsson –one of the largest manufacturers of GSM equipment in the world. Launch of Services: The cellular service was launched in the Gujarat circle in January 1997 and in the Maharashtra Circle (excluding Mumbai, including Goa) in March 1997. Established in 1947, the Aditya Birla Group is one of the leading business houses in India. The Group has its presence across various sectors including cement, viscose staple fiber, engineering, textiles, power, telecommunication, industrial chemicals, petroleum and financial services.
MAHANAGAR TELEPHONE NIGAM Ltd:
The company is the cellular licensee of the Delhi (Metro) and Mumbai (Metro) under the brand name "Dolphin". The pre-paid card is called "Trump". Launch of Services: The Company launched its services on February 2001 in both the Delhi and Mumbai metros.
RELIANCE TELECOM Ltd:
Reliance Telecom limited is the Cellular Services Operator in seven circles - Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam and North-East. The license area includes 13 states covering more than 35 % of India's landmass and 33 % of India's population. The company offers its services under the brand name of Reliance Mobile. Reliance Telecom limited has been promoted by India's largest private sector company, Reliance Industries limited with a minority equity participation by Bell Atlantic - Nynex Inc. Reliance Telecom's major coverage lies in the eastern region of the country, where there is an opportunity to supplement the existing fixed line network which has remained underdeveloped due to historical reasons. Reliance Telecom has been successful in a short span of time in setting up network and providing cellular services across seven Circles.
RPG CELLULAR SERVICES LIMITED
RPG Cellular is the cellular licensee for the Chennai Metro and operates under the brand name "RPG Cellular". The RPG Group has promoted RPG Cellular Services Ltd (RCSL) in association with two of the largest GSM cellular operators in the world – Air Touch The Company is the largest cellular service operator in the world with over 17 million subscribers. Vodafone is a leading global provider of mobile telecommunications services in U.K. and Australia and several other countries across Europe and Asia and has over 10 million customers worldwide. The Company also has participation in the Global star Satellite Communication System.
SWOT ANALYSIS:
Strategy in Global Context For Idea Cellular Ltd. After analyzing the SWOT analysis of Idea cellular which has been done in the previous report the tows matrix can be constructed as follows: SO strategies: Under Strength and opportunity strategy the company should penetrate the rural market as the number of mobile users in rural India is increasing at a fast rate, we can say it is becoming very close to urban consumers. As the organizations carries a good brand reputation of Aditya Birla Group, and being the first organization to launch GPRS service, it should penetrate the rural market and offer other value added services like GPRS at affordable prices. Brand promotion is required in this perspective. The advertisements of Idea cellular give a touch of Indian villages, it therefore can become successful in gaining a large pool of customers, but it has to maintain superior digital clarity that too at an affordable prices. WO Strategies: This strategy is a tool by which we can understand the weaknesses and compare them with the opportunities we have in hand, and making an effort to see how weaknesses can be utilized in maximizing the available opportunities. Earlier the firm was targeting the consumers of Northern India only. In its recent expansion plan it has slowly capture the other parts of India as well, but it has not been able to provide some value added services like Direct to home and mobile broadband service like Tata and Reliance. The reason behind providing these value added services is that it gives a unique strength to the firm and a kind of diversification. The result is broadening of services and capability of jumping into other related services which can be very securely connected with mobile services. ST Strategies: Looking at the strength of the firm the firm carries a brand name and the market share of the company is increasing in other parts of India as well including north and western parts of India. The company’s promotional strategies are also proving beneficial. The recent advertisements have proved successful in executing the brand communication to the consumers. But the threats cannot be ignored and these have to be very carefully analyzed so that the threat scan be minimized into strengths. Poor infrastructure and not
upgrading the technology whenever t h e n e e d a r i s e s i s a b i g t h r e a t a n d i t h a s t o b e minimized to the maximum extent possible. Sometimes poor execution of promotional activities can also damage the reputation of the firms. The care has to be taken as to what technology is most suitable, with whom the firm should tie up (like strategic alliance with Nokia and other major software providers like IBM). Another major threat can be the untrained workforce. The strategy here the company can adopt is to see whether what kind of training is required for the workforce and at what time. Dealing with the local distributors is a challenging task and it r e q u i r e s a strong convincing power. Thus Idea cellular can minimize this threat by g i v i n g appropriate training to its workforce from time to time. Upgrading the technology and bringing on more creative promotional activities can bring in a lot of change in the company’s business
WHAT IS ADVERTISING?
Advertising is a non-personal form of promotion that is delivered through selected media outlets that, under most circumstances, require the marketer to pay for message placement. Advertising has long been viewed as a method of mass promotion in that a single message can reach a large number of people. But, this mass promotion approach presents problems since many exposed to an advertising message may not be within the marketer’s target market, and thus, may be an inefficient use of promotional funds. However, this is changing as new advertising technologies and the emergence of new media outlets offer more options for targeted advertising. Advertising also has a history of being considered a one-way form of marketing communication where the message receiver (i.e., target market) is not in position to immediately respond to the message (e.g., seek more information). This too is changing. For example, in the next few years technologies will be readily available to enable a television viewer to click a button to request more details on a product seen on their favorite TV program. In fact, it is expected that over the next 10-20 years advertising will move away from a one-way communication model and become one that is highly interactive. Another characteristic that may
change as advertising evolves is the view that advertising does not stimulate immediate demand for the product advertised. That is, customers cannot quickly purchase a product they see advertised. But as more media outlets allow customers to interact with the messages being delivered the ability of advertising to quickly stimulate demand will improve.
HISTORY:
Black-figured lekythos with the inscription: “buy me and you'll get a good bargain”, ca. 550 BC, Louvre Commercial messages and political campaign displays have been found in the ruins of ancient Arabia. Egyptians used papyrus to create sales messages and wall posters, while lostand-found advertising on papyrus was common in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Wall or rock painting for commercial advertising is another manifestation of an ancient advertising form, which is present to this day in many parts of Asia, Africa, and South America. The tradition of wall painting can be traced back to Indian rock-art paintings that date back to 4000 BC. As printing developed in the 15th and 16th century, advertising expanded to include handbills. In the 17th century advertisements started to appear in weekly newspapers in England. These early print advertisements were used mainly to promote: books and newspapers, which became increasingly affordable with advances in the printing press; and medicines, which were increasingly sought after as disease ravaged Europe. However, false advertising and so-called "quack" advertisements became a problem, which ushered in the regulation of advertising content. Edo period advertising flyer from 1806 for a traditional medicine called Kinetin As the economy expanded during the 19th century, advertising grew alongside. In the United States, the success of this advertising format eventually led to the growth of mailorder advertising. In 1841, the first advertising agency was established by Volney Palmer in Boston. At first, agencies were brokers for advertisement space in newspapers. N. W. Ayer & Son was the first full-service agency to assume responsibility for advertising content. N.W. Ayer opened in 1875, and was located in Philadelphia.
At the turn of the century, there were few career choices for women in business; however, advertising was one of the few. Since women were responsible for most of the purchasing done in their household, advertisers and agencies recognized the value of women's insight during the creative process. In fact, the first American advertising to use a sexual sell was created by a woman – for a soap product. Although tame by today's standards, the advertisement featured a couple with the message "The skin you love to touch". A print advertisement for the 1913 issue of the Encyclopedia Britannica When radio stations began broadcasting in the early 1920s, the programs were however nearly exploded. This was so because the first radio stations were established by radio equipment manufacturers and retailers who offered programs in order to sell more radios to consumers. As time passed, many nonprofit organizations followed suit in setting up their own radio stations, and included: schools, clubs and civic groups. When the practice of sponsoring programs was popularized, each individual radio program was usually sponsored by a single business in exchange for a brief mention of the business' name at the beginning and end of the sponsored shows. However, radio station owners soon realized they could earn more money by selling sponsorship rights in small time allocations to multiple businesses throughout their radio station's broadcasts, rather than selling the sponsorship rights to single businesses per show. This practice was carried over to television in the late 1940s and early 1950s. A fierce battle was fought between those seeking to commercialize the radio and people who argued that the radio spectrum should be considered a part of the commons – to be used only non-commercially and for the public good. The United Kingdom pursued a public funding model for the BBC, originally a private company but incorporated as a public body by Royal Charter in 1927. In Canada, advocates like Graham Spry were likewise able to persuade the federal government to adopt a public funding model. However, in the United States, the capitalist model prevailed with the passage of the 1934 Communications Act which created the Federal Communications Commission. To placate the socialists, the U.S. Congress did require commercial broadcasters to operate in the "public interest, convenience, and necessity". Nevertheless, public radio does exist
in the United States of America. In the early 1950s, the Dumont television network began the modern trend of selling advertisement time to multiple sponsors. Previously, Dumont had trouble finding sponsors for many of their programs and compensated by selling smaller blocks of advertising time to several businesses. This eventually became the norm for the commercial television industry in the United States. However, it was still a common practice to have single sponsor shows, such as the U.S. Steel Hour. In some instances the sponsors exercised great control over the content of the show - up to and including having one's advertising agency actually writing the show. The single sponsor model is much less prevalent now, a notable exception being the Hallmark Hall of Fame. The 1960s saw advertising transform into a modern approach in which creativity was allowed to shine, producing unexpected messages that made advertisements more tempting to consumers' eyes. The Volkswagen ad campaign--featuring such headlines as "Think Small" and "Lemon" (which were used to describe the appearance of the car)--ushered in the era of modern advertising by promoting a "position" or "unique selling proposition" designed to associate each brand with a specific idea in the reader or viewer's mind. This period of American advertising is called the Creative Revolution and its poster boy was Bill Bern Bach who helped create the revolutionary Volkswagen ads among others. Some of the most creative and long-standing American advertising dates to this incredibly creative period. Public advertising on Times Square, New York City. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the introduction of cable television and particularly MTV. Pioneering the concept of the music video, MTV ushered in a new type of advertising: the consumer tunes in for the advertising message, rather than it being a byproduct or afterthought. As cable and satellite television became increasingly prevalent, specialty channels emerged, including channels entirely devoted to advertising, such as QVC, Home Shopping Network, and Shop TV.
Marketing through the Internet opened new frontiers for advertisers and contributed to the "dotcom" boom of the 1990s. Entire corporations operated solely on advertising revenue, offering everything from coupons to free Internet access. At the turn of the 21st century, a number of websites including the search engine Google, started a change in online advertising by emphasizing contextually relevant, unobtrusive ads intended to help, rather than inundate, users. This has led to a plethora of similar efforts and an increasing trend of interactive advertising. The share of advertising spending relative to GDP has changed little across large changes in media. For example, in the U.S. in 1925, the main advertising media were newspapers, magazines, signs on streetcars, and outdoor posters. Advertising spending as a share of GDP was about 2.9%. By 1998, television and radio had become major advertising media. Nonetheless, advertising spending as a share of GDP was slightly lower -- about 2.4%. A recent advertising innovation is "guerrilla promotions", which involve unusual approaches such as staged encounters in public places, giveaways of products such as cars that are covered with brand messages, and interactive advertising where the viewer can respond to become part of the advertising message. This reflects an increasing trend of interactive and "embedded" ads, such as via product placement, having consumers vote through text messages, and various innovations utilizing social networking sites (e.g. My Space). Paul McManus, the Creative Director of TBWA\Europe in the late 90's summed up advertising as being "...all about understanding. Understanding of the brand, the product or the service being offered and understanding of the people (their hopes and fears and needs) who are going to interact with it. Great advertising is the creative expression of that understanding."
MOBILE BILL BOARD ADVERTISING:
Mobile Billboards are flat-panel campaign units in which their sole purpose is to carry advertisements along dedicated routes selected by clients prior to the start of a campaign. Mobile Billboard companies do not typically carry third-party cargo or freight. Mobile displays are used for various situations in metropolitan areas throughout the world, including:
? Target advertising ? One day, and long term campaigns ? Convention ? Sporting events ? Store openings or other similar promotional events ? Big advertisements from smaller companies
PUBLIC SERVICE ADVERTISING:
The same advertising techniques used to promote commercial goods and services can be used to inform, educate and motivate the public about non-commercial issues, such as AIDS, political ideology, energy conservation, religious recruitment, and deforestation. Advertising, in its non-commercial guise, is a powerful educational tool capable of reaching and motivating large audiences. "Advertising justifies its existence when used in the public interest it is much too powerful a tool to use solely for commercial purposes." - Attributed to Howard Gossage by David Ogilvy Public service advertising, non-commercial advertising, public interest advertising, cause marketing, and social marketing are different terms for (or aspects of) the use of sophisticated advertising and marketing communications techniques (generally associated with commercial enterprise) on behalf of non-commercial, public interest issues and initiatives. In the United States, the granting of television and radio licenses by the FCC is contingent upon the station broadcasting a certain amount of public service advertising. To meet these requirements, many broadcast stations in America air the bulk of their required Public Service Announcements during the late night or early morning when the smallest percentage of viewers are watching, leaving more day and prime time commercial slots available for high-paying advertisers.
Public service advertising reached its height during World Wars I and II under the direction of several governments. Now in days, people average around 500 advertisements a day, found one researcher.
TYPES OF ADVERTISING
MEDIA:
Paying people to hold signs is one of the oldest forms of advertising, as with this Human directional pictured above, a bus with an advertisement for GAP in Singapore. Buses and other vehicles are popular mediums for advertisers. ADBAG Class 101 with UNICEF ads at Ingolstadt main railway station. Commercial advertising media can include wall paintings, billboards, street furniture components, printed flyers and rack cards, radio, cinema and television ads, web banners, mobile telephone screens, shopping carts, web popup, skywriting, bus stop benches, human directional, magazines, newspapers, town criers, sides of buses or airplanes ("logo jets"), taxicab doors, roof mounts and passenger screens, musical stage shows, subway platforms and trains, elastic bands on disposable diapers, stickers on apples in supermarkets, the opening section of streaming audio and video, posters, and the backs of event tickets and supermarket receipts. Any place an "identified" sponsor pays to deliver their message through a medium is advertising.
Another way to measure advertising effectiveness is known as ad tracking. This advertising research methodology measures shifts in target market perceptions about the brand and product or service. These shifts in perception are plotted against the consumers’ levels of exposure to the company’s advertisements and promotions. The purpose of Ad Tracking is generally to provide a measure of the combined effect of the media weight or spending level, the effectiveness of the media buy or targeting, and the quality of the advertising executions or creative. Ad Tracking Article
COVERT ADVERTISING:
Covert advertising is when a product or brand is embedded in entertainment and media. For example, in a film, the main character can use an item or other of a definite brand, as in the movie Minority Report, where Tom Cruise's character John Ander ton owns a phone with the Nokia logo clearly written in the top corner, or his watch engraved with the Bulgaria logo. Another example of advertising in film is in I, Robot, where main character played by Will Smith mentions his Converse shoes several times, calling them "classics," because the film is set far in the future. I, Robot and Space balls also showcase futuristic cars with the Audi and Mercedes-Benz logos clearly displayed on the front of the vehicles. Cadillac chose to advertise in the movie The Matrix Reloaded, which as a result contained many scenes in which Cadillac cars were used. Similarly, product placement for Omega Watches, Ford, Vaio, BMW and Aston-Martin cars are featured in recent James Bond films, most notably Casino Royale.
TELEVISION COMMERCIALS:
MAIN ARTICLE: TELIVISION ADVERTISEMENT: The TV commercial is generally considered the most effective mass-market advertising format, as is reflected by the high prices TV networks charge for commercial airtime during popular TV events. The annual Super Bowl football game in the United States is known as the most prominent advertising event on television. The average cost of a single thirty-second TV spot during this game has reached $2.7 million (as of 2007). Virtual advertisements may be inserted into regular television programming through computer graphics. It is typically inserted into otherwise blank backdrops or used to replace local billboards that are not relevant to the remote broadcast audience, More controversially, virtual billboards may be inserted into the background, where none existing in real-life. Virtual product placement is also possible.
NEWER MEDIA AND ADVERTISING APPROACHES:
Increasingly, other media are overtaking television because of a shift towards Consumer’s usage of the internet as well as devices such as TiVo. Advertising on the World Wide Web is a recent
phenomenon. Prices of Web-based advertising space are dependent on the "relevance" of the surrounding web content and the traffic that the website receives. E-mail advertising is another recent phenomenon. Unsolicited bulk E-mail advertising is known as "spam". Some companies have proposed to place messages or corporate logos on the side of booster rockets and the International Space Station. Controversy exists on the effectiveness of subliminal advertising (see mind control), and the pervasiveness of mass messages (see propaganda). Unpaid advertising (also called word of mouth advertising), can provide good exposure at minimal cost. Personal recommendations ("bring a friend", "sell it"), spreading buzz, or achieving the feat of equating a brand with a common noun (in the United States, "Xerox" = "photocopier", "Kleenex" = tissue, "Vaseline" = petroleum jelly, "Hoover" = vacuum cleaner, and "Band-Aid" = adhesive bandage) — these are the pinnacles of any advertising campaign. However, some companies oppose the use of their brand name to label an object. Equating a brand with a common noun also risks turning that brand into a generalized trademark - turning it into a generic term which means that its legal protection as a trademark is lost. SMS (Short Message Service) text messages have taken Europe by storm and are breaking into the USA. The addition of a text-back number is gaining prevalence as a www address of yesterday. Used as part of your companies 'how to contact us' these can be very effective. These can be a (rented) keyword on a short-code or your own system on a standard number (like Mojio Messenger). The benefit of SMS text messages is people can respond where they are, right now, stuck in traffic, sitting on the metro. The use of SMS text messages can also be a great way to get a viral (word-of-mouth) campaign off the ground to build your own database of prospects sees viral marketing. Interstitial advertisement is a form of advertisement which takes place while a page loads.
From time to time, The CW airs short programming breaks called "Content Wraps," to advertise one company's product during an entire commercial break. The CW pioneered "content wraps" and some products featured were Herbal Essences, Crest, Guitar Hero 2, Cover Girl, and recently Toyota.
MEASURING THE IMPACT OF MASS ADVERTISING:
The most common method for measuring the impact of mass media advertising is the use of the rating point (rp) or the more accurate target rating point (trp). These two measures refer to the percentage of the universe of the existing base of audience members that can be reached by the use of each media outlet in a particular moment in time. The difference between the two is that the rating point refers to the percentage to the entire universe while the target rating point refers to the percentage of a particular segment or target. This becomes very useful when focusing advertising efforts on a particular group of people. One of the reasons advertising is successful is because it can target a particular audience to build awareness of what the advertiser has to offer.
NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING:
An extensively documented effect is the control and vetoing of free information by the advertisers. Any negative information on a company or its products or operations often results in pressures from the company to withdraw such information lines, threatening to cut their ads. This behavior makes the editors of the media self-censor content that might upset their ad payers. The bigger the companies are, the bigger their relation becomes, maximizing control over a single piece of information. Advertisers may try to minimize information about or from consumer groups, consumer-controlled purchasing initiatives (as joint purchase systems), or consumercontrolled quality information systems. Another indirect effect of advertising is to modify the nature of the communication media where it is shown. Media that get most of their revenues from publicity try to make their medium a good place for communicating ads before anything else. The clearest example is television, where broadcasters try to make the public stay for a long time in a mental state that encourages
spectators not to switch the channel during advertisements. Programs that are low in mental stimulus, require light concentration and are varied are best for long sitting times. These also make for much easier emotional transition to ads, which are occasionally more entertaining than the regular shows. A simple way to understand objectives in television programming is to compare the content of programs paid for and chosen by the viewer with those on channels that get their income mainly from advertisements. In several books, articles and videos, communication professor Sut Jhally has argued that pervasive commercial advertising, by constantly reinforcing a bogus association between consumption and happiness and by focusing on individual immediate needs, leads to a squandering of resources and stands in the way of a discussion of fundamental societal and longterm needs.
MANAGING ADVERTISING DECISIONS:
Delivering an effective marketing message through advertising requires many different decisions as the marketer develops their advertising campaign. For small campaigns, that involve little creative effort, one or a few people may handle the bulk of the work. In fact, the Internet has made do-it-yourself advertising an easy to manage process and has especially empowered small businesses to manage their advertising decisions. As we will see, not only can small firms handle the creation and placement of advertisements that appear on the Internet, new services have even made it possible for a single person to create advertisements that run on local television. For instance, a company called Spot Runner allows users to select from a list of high-quality television ads that can be customized and then placed within local cable television programming. For larger campaigns the skills needed to make sound advertising decisions can be quite varied and may not be easily handled by a single person. While larger companies manage some advertising activities within the company, they are more likely to rely on the assistance of advertising professionals, such as those found at advertising agencies, to help bring their advertising campaign to market.
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A specific combination of promotional methods used for one product or a family of products. Elements of a promotion mix may include print or broadcast advertising, direct marketing, personal selling, point of sale displays, and/or merchandising.
ADVERTISING & PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES
INTRODUCTION:
An Advertising strategy is a campaign developed to communicate ideas about products and services to potential consumers in the hopes of convincing them to buy those products and services. This strategy, when built in a rational and intelligent manner, will reflect other business considerations (overall budget, brand recognition efforts) and objectives (public image enhancement, customer perception towards product, market share growth) as well. An advertising strategy is designed to sell a product. It is a one-way form of communication, from company to consumer, geared toward giving consumers the information necessary to make a purchasing decision. Advertisements tell consumers about the product and how to get it. The purpose of advertising is to sell products and to build brand name. The Promotional strategy is a two-way interaction between company and consumer designed primarily to increase sales, often by attracting new customers. Brand building is a side effect of promotional strategies, but it is not the purpose. Promotional strategies give away something, whether it is free product, money or other awards, as a way to bring in consumers who may not be attracted to the product under normal circumstances. The promotional strategy is usually short lived and can be less expensive than large advertising campaigns, making it ideal for small to medium companies that need to build a name or introduce a product quickly. Examples of a promotional strategy include giving away coupons, printed information or free products. Now-a-days, most advertising & promotional strategies focus on achieving three general goals: 1) Promote awareness of a business and its product or services; 2) Stimulate sales directly and "attract competitors' customers"; and 3) Establish or modify a business' image Advertising is a persuasive communication attempt to change or reinforce ones’ prior attitude that is predictable of future behavior. We are not born with the attitudes which we hold toward various objects in our environment. Rather, we learn our feelings of favorability or not
favorability through information about the attitude object (e.g., advertising), or direct experience with the attitude object (e.g., tasting a new brand of beer), or some combination of the two. Attitudes are not overt behaviors but rather are covert, or unobservable, internal reactions. Furthermore, once a certain type of attitudes are formed and repeatedly reinforced, the attitude toward objects is stored in consumers’ memory as a form of either explicit or implicit memory. And those episodes of attitudes are retrieved automatically or strategically at the time of decision making, which generate certain types of reactions. Given that attitudes have traditionally been viewed as evaluations that are stored in memory and persist over time, the constructs of memory and attitude are extremely valuable construct to understand how advertising work. Also, the discussion about the underlying mechanisms of forming attitude and memory should be addressed.
DEFINITION:
A business's advertising strategy "determines the character of the company's public face." ----- Alexander Hiam and Charles D. Schewe
NEED OF THE STUDY:
The current study intends to measure on the following: • To study the impact of idea advertisements on consumer buying decisions. It is known fact that the recent idea advertisements which are endorsed by Abhishek Bachan have become very popular. • To understand how far the awareness created by these advertisements help company to increase its sales.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:
1. 2. To measure the awareness levels of recent idea cellular advertisements To measure the influence of advertisement on customer buying decision.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY:
Scope of the current study is limited to idea cellular customers and non customers who are residing in Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
A system of collecting data for research projects is known as research methodology. The data may be collected for either theoretical or practical research. Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In it we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying his research problem along with the logic behind them.
RESEARCH DESIGN:
Task of defining the research problem is the preparation of the research project, popularly known as the “research design”. Decisions regarding what, where, when, how much, by what means concerning an inquiry or a research study constitute a research design. A research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure. It is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project.
SAMPLE METHOD:
A random sampling method was used for the purpose of this study. Data were collected from both customers and non customers of idea cellular.
DATA COLLECTION:
For the purpose of the study data has been collected through two sources among that 1) Primary source 2) Secondary source
• PRIMARY DATA:
For the primary source data is collected through structured questionnaire,
• SECONDARY DATA: Secondary data is collected from company websites, company
broacher’s journals and articles about the company
• TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES:
Data has been analyzed using frequency tables, cross tabulations, pie diagrams and bar charts.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:
a) Questionnaires were administered at idea cellular show rooms and at few public places. b) As the data has been collected from the existing customers of idea cellular, their previous experience with the company may have influenced current opinions. c) Non customers of idea cellular may be the users of other cellular service providers, so the experience with their current service provider may have influenced their opinions. d) Timing of questionnaire administration may have influenced the data.
COMPANY PROFILE:
As India's leading GSM Mobile Services operator, IDEA Cellular has licenses to operate in 11 circles. With a customer base of over 17 million, IDEA Cellular has operations in Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, UP-West, Himachal Pradesh, UP-East, Rajasthan and Kerala. IDEA Cellular's footprint currently covers approximately 45% of India's population and over 50% of the potential telecommarket. 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 Email 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 Cellular is part of the Aditya Birla Group, which is India's first truly multinational corporation. 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 around 57 per cent. With ambitious future plans, the company is poised for rapid growth.
HISTORY:
Idea Cellular's history dates back to the year 1995,when it was in corporated as Birla Communications Services The following year, the company entered into a joint venture with Grasim industries and the global telecom giant AT&T. The same year, its name was changed to Birla AT&T Communications Limited. A merger with Tata Cellular Limited took place in 2000. In 2002, the company created the brand ‘Idea' and changed its name to idea Cellular Limited. The same year it launched operations in delhi and crossed the one million subscriber base; in 2005, it crossed the subscriber base of five million. In 2006, the Tata Group transferred all its shares to the aditya birla Group and the group became the largest shareholder in the company. In 2007, Idea came with an IPO and got listed on the bourses the same year it reached the subscriber base of 2 0 million. The chronology of key events of the Company from incorporation is set out below: Calendar Year Events • 2010: Acquired Escorts Telecommunications Limited (subsequently renamed as Idea Telecommunications Limited)
• •
2006: Became part of the Aditya Birla Group subsequent to the TATA Group transferring its entire shareholding in the Company to the Aditya Birla Group 2004: Completed debt restructuring for the then existing debt facilities and additional funding for the Delhi Circle. Acquired Escotel Mobile Communications Limited (subsequently renamed as Idea Mobile Communications Limited) Reached the four million subscriber mark First operator in India to commercially launch EDGE services 2005 Reached the five million subscriber mark Turned profit positive Won an award for the "Bill Flash" service at the GSM Association Awards in Barcelona, Spain, Sponsored the International Indian Film Academy Awards
• •
2003: Reached the two million subscriber mark 2002: Changed name to Idea Cellular Limited and launched "Idea" brand name Commenced commercial operations in Delhi Circle Reached the one million subscriber mark
•
2001: Acquired RPG Cellular Limited and consequently the license for the Madhya Pradesh (including Chhattisgarh) Circle Changed name to Birla Tata AT&T Limited Obtained license for providing GSM-based services in the Delhi Circle following the fourth operator GSM license bidding process
• • • • •
2000: Merged with Tata Cellular Limited, thereby acquiring original license for the Andhra Pradesh Circle 1999: Migrated to revenues share license fee regime under New Telecommunication Policy ("NTP") 1997: Commenced operations in the Gujarat and Maharashtra Circles 1996: Changed name to Birla AT&T Communications Limited following joint venture between Grasim Industries and AT&T Corporation 1995: Incorporated as Birla Communications Limited Obtained licenses for providing GSM-based services in the Gujarat and Maharashtra Circles following the original GSM
license bidding process. Acquired Escotel, incumbent cellular service provider in Haryana, UP (W) & Kerala and new licensee in HP Brand IDEA launched Delhi operations commence (Nov) Acquired RPG Cell com, service provider in Madhya Pradesh (Feb) Awarded MOU for merger between Birla AT&T and Tata Cellular Limited Andhra Pradesh Signed (Jan) Birla AT&T commence Cellular operations Maharashtra & Gujarat We are part of the Aditya Birla Group and all our Promoters are companies belonging to the Aditya Birla Group.
OUR CIRCLES:
The Indian telecommunications market for mobile services is divided into 23 “Circles”. There are four “metropolitan” Circles, covering the cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, and 19 Circles classified by the Government as category “A”, category “B” or category “C”, which cover the rest of India. These classifications are based principally on a Circle’s revenue generating potential, with metropolitan and category A Circles having the highest revenue potential. 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.
ABOUT IDEA CELLULAR LTD
LAUNCH OF 3G SERVICES:
Your Company, in 2010, won spectrum in 2100 MHz band in 11 service areas. Idea has launched 3G services in all these service areas (except Punjab) and has entered into roaming
arrangement with other operators to provide 3G services in remaining service areas (except Orissa). At the end of FY12, Idea 3G services are available in more than 3,000 towns and 10,000 villages, in 20 service areas. Idea`s 3G services, considered to be one of the best, connect to the world of faster internet with the speed of up to 21 Mbps, video calling and conferencing on the handset, Mobile TV, Idea Mall applications store, besides being capable of many other futuristic services. Idea has introduced a choice of affordable data billing option for Pre-paid and Post-paid subscribers, including time based billing plans for 3G services, enabling users to avail high end data services without worrying about the volume of usage. Idea is the first company to introduce the sachet pricing at as low as Rs. 8 for trial purpose and attractive `Gigabyte` bundles, targeted towards medium to heavy users. With launch of 3G services and improvement in 3G ecosystem in terms of devices, applications and contents, your Company is all set to exploit the untapped wireless broadband data market and other emerging verticals of revenue like Mobile banking, M-commerce, M-health, M-education etc.
POWER BRAND:
Idea is envisioned as a `Champion` brand, driven by a cause. Our mission is to shift paradigms, making mobile telephony a way of life. To be a leader in the fast changing telecom industry, it is important to be ahead of the times. Idea represents innovation and vitality, is imaginative and future ready. Idea strives to build preference for the brand through its services. Idea`s communication has been about simple ideas that have the potential to change your life. It paints a picture of possibilities that lift mobile telephony from just communication to being an enabler of positive change in the lives of millions. We have creatively used the role mobile services are playing in uniting the country and providing innovative suggestions to long standing societal issues. The brand communication is designed to be perceived as humane, caring, warm and friendly. This framework has led to the creation of some very noticeable and memorable advertising like the Caste War, Education for all, Use Mobile Save Paper, Break the Language Barrier and Population (India busy on Idea 3G), which have not only won many awards but also millions of hearts.
IDEA – BRAND VALUES: Innovate. Stimulate. Liberate....
It is these brand values, which have made us a formidable player in the telecom industry. Innovations that stimulate the customer and liberate him from the shackles of time and space are the core of our brand. This is what we strive for. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.
THE BRAND IDEA:
It is almost impossible to disintegrate brand Idea from the corporate Idea. Brand values are the company values and vice versa.
BRAND VISION:
It goes without saying that the brand vision of idea mirrors the company’s vision. The brand mission statement is...... To be the most customer-focused mobile service brand, continuously innovating to help liberate our customers from the shackles of time & space.
IDEA – BRAND MISSION:
The India footprint Idea Anywhere connectivity - bringing India closer. The Technology Advantage Idea Tomorrow's technology to enrich today. The Customer Focus Idea Make a single interaction a lasting relations The Employee Focus Idea Nurture the roots that nurture our ideas. LAUNCH OF IDEA SMARTPHONES: In an effort to accelerate the adoption of 3G services, Idea Tele systems Limited launched Idea smart phones at attractive price points enabling the subscribers to experience and exploit the world of such services.
MOBILE BANKING:
Idea Mobile Commerce Services Limited (IMCSL), provides Mobile Banking services through an alliance with Axis Bank with a facility titled `Idea My Cash` which provides basic banking services including money transfer using the mobile platform. This is a mobile based financial inclusion initiative, which besides providing basic banking services to the unbanked, like cash deposit, cash withdrawal and balance enquiry, will also enable money transfer, to the migrant population in urban areas for remitting their funds to the beneficiaries back home. RBI has recently increased the limit for the transaction for the Semi Closed Prepaid Instruments from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 50,000 and has also permitted money transfer from peer to peer and back to his bank account. IMCSL is exploring this business opportunity.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
"Stay Connected" is a brand promise that looks at the key purpose of mobile telephony. It converges with the tangible requirement of 'network depth' & at the same time, reflects the eternal human need for bonding, kinsman ship, and relationship forming. This new brand campaign enables Idea to own the biggest category benefit of "keeping people connected", through a simple, unique and likeable expression of connectivity. And it makes consumers aware that "no one connects better than Idea". Slated to run through 2004, the campaign utilizes all relevant mainline media to propagate the message to its audiences with 60-second commercial and its various edits, print campaign & outdoor publicity. Apart from it, various innovative media / events has been used to further strengthen the message.
MODELS OF ADVERTISEMENTS:
VARIOUS SERVICE PROVIDERS IN INDIA
AIRCEL LIMITED:
Aircel Limited is the Cellular Operator in Tamil Nadu Cellular Circle (Tamil Nadu except Chennai and including Pondicherry). Aircel Limited is a part of the Sterling InfoTech Group founded by Mr. C. Sivasankaran. The Sterling Group has been in operation for over 2 decades and is promoting the cause of stable business opportunities catering to a need-based society thus contributing significantly to the quality of life for people across the country. Tracing its roots back to the early 80s, the Sterling Group revolutionized the then infantile PC Market with the launch of a series of Siva PCs. The Technology partners of Aircel are Ericsson who provides the Mobile Switching Centers and Base Stations & Fujitsu who provide the MW Backbone. Aircel has a network of more than 100 exclusive agents across Tamil Nadu. Launch of services: Aircel launched its operations in April 1999.
AIRCEL DIG LINK INDIA LIMITED:
Aircel Dig link India Limited, provides cellular services in the circles of Haryana, Rajasthan and UP (East) under the brand name "Essar". The Essar Group is one of India's leading business conglomerates, with an asset base of over US$ 4 billion (Rs. 170 billion). The Group is committed to the development of core sector and infrastructure businesses in India and abroad. Essar Group is actively involved in five principal businesses viz., Steel, Shipping, Oil & Gas, Power and Telecommunications. The company uses world-renowned technology from Siemens in building and operating its North Indian Network. ADIL offers a basket of GSM Phase I and Phase II features. It offers voice, fax, data and other facilities. Launch of services: Aircel Dig link India Limited (ADIL), was incorporated in March 1995 and was subsequently inducted into the Essar group in 1996.
BHARTI CELLULAR LIMITED:
Bharti Cellular Limited is the cellular licensee for the Delhi (Metro), Mumbai (Metro), UP (W), Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, MP. The company offers services under the brand name "AIRTEL". Airtel has been immeasurably strengthened by its partnership with British Telecom U.K. and Telecom Italia of Italy. Airtel services are in technical alliance with Ericsson, has provided Airtel subscribers with a truly world class network. Bharti Mobile Limited offers services in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab under the brand name "Airtel". Bharti Mobile Limited, a joint venture of Bharti Enterprises and Telia. Airtel comes to you from Bharti Mobile Ltd. Its key focus is on the marketing and operations of a comprehensive range of telecom services in addition to the Healthcare sector. Launch of Services: Karnataka: Airtel launched its services in Karnataka on May 13,2000. The services in Punjab started in February 2002.
BPL CELLULAR LIMITED:
BPL Cellular Limited (BCL) is the licensee to provide cellular mobile services in the States of Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai but including Goa), Tamil Nadu (excluding Chennai but including Pondicherry) and Kerala. The company offers services under the brand name BPL Mobile. BPL Cellular Ltd. is a joint venture between, BPL, India's No.1 Consumer durable giant and AT&T Broadband. A reliable and world-class quality network supported by world's leading technology vendors like NOKIA, MOTOROLA and LHS. The company has in-house technical expertise in RF planning and initially used the tool Planet, licensed from Mobile Systems International (MSI), to plan the KR engineering and network design for each of the circles. Launch of Services: The company commenced services in January 1997 in Pune, Maharashtra. Since its first year of operations, the company has been offering a wide range of products and services.
BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LIMITED (BSNL):
On October 1, 2000 the Department of Telecom Operations, Government of India became a corporation and was christened Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). Today, BSNL is the No. 1 Telecommunications Company and the largest Public Sector Undertaking of India and its responsibilities include improvement of the already impeccable quality of telecom services, expansion of telecom network, introduction of new telecom services in all villages and instilling confidence among its customers. Responsibilities that BSNL has managed to shoulder remarkably, deftly. Today with a 43million line capacity, 99.9% of its exchanges digital, nationwide Network management & surveillance system (NMSS) to control telecom traffic and nearly 3, 55,632 route kms of OFC network, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is a name to reckon with in the world of connectivity. Along with its vast customer base, BSNL's financial and asset bases too are vast and strong. Consider the figures, as they speak volumes on BSNL’s standing.
ESCOTEL MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS:
Escotel Mobile Communications operates cellular phone services in state circles of Uttar Pradesh (West), Haryana and Kerala. The company offers cellular services under the brand name of Escotel. Escotel Mobile Communications is a joint venture company between Escorts Limited and the First Pacific Company Limited of Hong Kong. Escorts Limited has 51 per cent equity stake in Escotel, while First Pacific holds 49 per cent. First Pacific Company Limited with a market capitalization of $2 billion and a turnover of $2.9 billion is a global corporation that operates in 20 countries. It has interests in telecommunication, banking, real estate and marketing. The company employs over 50,000 people worldwide. First Pacific has been a pioneer in bringing digital cellular technology in Hong Kong and now operates the biggest and fastest. The technology partners of Escotel are Lucent Technologies (formerly Bell Labs) & Sema Group Telecom, UK Launch of Services: Escotel commenced operations in December 1996/ January 1997 and was the first to launch its service in all the three circles.
HEXACOM INDIA LIMITED:
Hexacom India Ltd. is the cellular licensee of Rajasthan and operates under the brand name "Oasis Cellular". Hexacom India Ltd. has been promoted by a consortium of Telecom majors including Shy am Telecom Limited (STL), Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) and Tele systems International Wireless (TIW), Canada. TCIL is a public sector unit under the Ministry of Communications. One of the leading telecom companies, it is the only Government agency to have a presence in the cellular market. TCIL has projects in over 30 countries. Shy am Telecom Limited is an ISO 9001 company and one of the largest suppliers of radio, microwave and other telecom equipments in India, with established research and development expertise and a strong export arm. STL is the licensee to provide basic telecom services in Rajasthan and it is all set to start operations with the brand name "Tele Links".. TIW is dedicated to wireless operations, basic services and is a specialist in high growth markets. TIW is also a leading provider of trunked mobile radio services in France and the UK, as well as paging services in Mexico and the Netherlands.
IDEA CELLULAR LIMITED:
IDEA Cellular Limited, formally known as Birla Tata AT&T Communication Limited is the cellular operator in the circles Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi (Metro) under the brand name "IDEA". Technologically Birla AT&T Communication Limited has adopted the superior CME-20 system architecture from Ericsson –one of the largest manufacturers of GSM equipment in the world. Launch of Services: The cellular service was launched in the Gujarat circle in January 1997 and in the Maharashtra Circle (excluding Mumbai, including Goa) in March 1997. Established in 1947, the Aditya Birla Group is one of the leading business houses in India. The Group has its presence across various sectors including cement, viscose staple fiber, engineering, textiles, power, telecommunication, industrial chemicals, petroleum and financial services.
MAHANAGAR TELEPHONE NIGAM Ltd:
The company is the cellular licensee of the Delhi (Metro) and Mumbai (Metro) under the brand name "Dolphin". The pre-paid card is called "Trump". Launch of Services: The Company launched its services on February 2001 in both the Delhi and Mumbai metros.
RELIANCE TELECOM Ltd:
Reliance Telecom limited is the Cellular Services Operator in seven circles - Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam and North-East. The license area includes 13 states covering more than 35 % of India's landmass and 33 % of India's population. The company offers its services under the brand name of Reliance Mobile. Reliance Telecom limited has been promoted by India's largest private sector company, Reliance Industries limited with a minority equity participation by Bell Atlantic - Nynex Inc. Reliance Telecom's major coverage lies in the eastern region of the country, where there is an opportunity to supplement the existing fixed line network which has remained underdeveloped due to historical reasons. Reliance Telecom has been successful in a short span of time in setting up network and providing cellular services across seven Circles.
RPG CELLULAR SERVICES LIMITED
RPG Cellular is the cellular licensee for the Chennai Metro and operates under the brand name "RPG Cellular". The RPG Group has promoted RPG Cellular Services Ltd (RCSL) in association with two of the largest GSM cellular operators in the world – Air Touch The Company is the largest cellular service operator in the world with over 17 million subscribers. Vodafone is a leading global provider of mobile telecommunications services in U.K. and Australia and several other countries across Europe and Asia and has over 10 million customers worldwide. The Company also has participation in the Global star Satellite Communication System.
SWOT ANALYSIS:
Strategy in Global Context For Idea Cellular Ltd. After analyzing the SWOT analysis of Idea cellular which has been done in the previous report the tows matrix can be constructed as follows: SO strategies: Under Strength and opportunity strategy the company should penetrate the rural market as the number of mobile users in rural India is increasing at a fast rate, we can say it is becoming very close to urban consumers. As the organizations carries a good brand reputation of Aditya Birla Group, and being the first organization to launch GPRS service, it should penetrate the rural market and offer other value added services like GPRS at affordable prices. Brand promotion is required in this perspective. The advertisements of Idea cellular give a touch of Indian villages, it therefore can become successful in gaining a large pool of customers, but it has to maintain superior digital clarity that too at an affordable prices. WO Strategies: This strategy is a tool by which we can understand the weaknesses and compare them with the opportunities we have in hand, and making an effort to see how weaknesses can be utilized in maximizing the available opportunities. Earlier the firm was targeting the consumers of Northern India only. In its recent expansion plan it has slowly capture the other parts of India as well, but it has not been able to provide some value added services like Direct to home and mobile broadband service like Tata and Reliance. The reason behind providing these value added services is that it gives a unique strength to the firm and a kind of diversification. The result is broadening of services and capability of jumping into other related services which can be very securely connected with mobile services. ST Strategies: Looking at the strength of the firm the firm carries a brand name and the market share of the company is increasing in other parts of India as well including north and western parts of India. The company’s promotional strategies are also proving beneficial. The recent advertisements have proved successful in executing the brand communication to the consumers. But the threats cannot be ignored and these have to be very carefully analyzed so that the threat scan be minimized into strengths. Poor infrastructure and not
upgrading the technology whenever t h e n e e d a r i s e s i s a b i g t h r e a t a n d i t h a s t o b e minimized to the maximum extent possible. Sometimes poor execution of promotional activities can also damage the reputation of the firms. The care has to be taken as to what technology is most suitable, with whom the firm should tie up (like strategic alliance with Nokia and other major software providers like IBM). Another major threat can be the untrained workforce. The strategy here the company can adopt is to see whether what kind of training is required for the workforce and at what time. Dealing with the local distributors is a challenging task and it r e q u i r e s a strong convincing power. Thus Idea cellular can minimize this threat by g i v i n g appropriate training to its workforce from time to time. Upgrading the technology and bringing on more creative promotional activities can bring in a lot of change in the company’s business
WHAT IS ADVERTISING?
Advertising is a non-personal form of promotion that is delivered through selected media outlets that, under most circumstances, require the marketer to pay for message placement. Advertising has long been viewed as a method of mass promotion in that a single message can reach a large number of people. But, this mass promotion approach presents problems since many exposed to an advertising message may not be within the marketer’s target market, and thus, may be an inefficient use of promotional funds. However, this is changing as new advertising technologies and the emergence of new media outlets offer more options for targeted advertising. Advertising also has a history of being considered a one-way form of marketing communication where the message receiver (i.e., target market) is not in position to immediately respond to the message (e.g., seek more information). This too is changing. For example, in the next few years technologies will be readily available to enable a television viewer to click a button to request more details on a product seen on their favorite TV program. In fact, it is expected that over the next 10-20 years advertising will move away from a one-way communication model and become one that is highly interactive. Another characteristic that may
change as advertising evolves is the view that advertising does not stimulate immediate demand for the product advertised. That is, customers cannot quickly purchase a product they see advertised. But as more media outlets allow customers to interact with the messages being delivered the ability of advertising to quickly stimulate demand will improve.
HISTORY:
Black-figured lekythos with the inscription: “buy me and you'll get a good bargain”, ca. 550 BC, Louvre Commercial messages and political campaign displays have been found in the ruins of ancient Arabia. Egyptians used papyrus to create sales messages and wall posters, while lostand-found advertising on papyrus was common in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Wall or rock painting for commercial advertising is another manifestation of an ancient advertising form, which is present to this day in many parts of Asia, Africa, and South America. The tradition of wall painting can be traced back to Indian rock-art paintings that date back to 4000 BC. As printing developed in the 15th and 16th century, advertising expanded to include handbills. In the 17th century advertisements started to appear in weekly newspapers in England. These early print advertisements were used mainly to promote: books and newspapers, which became increasingly affordable with advances in the printing press; and medicines, which were increasingly sought after as disease ravaged Europe. However, false advertising and so-called "quack" advertisements became a problem, which ushered in the regulation of advertising content. Edo period advertising flyer from 1806 for a traditional medicine called Kinetin As the economy expanded during the 19th century, advertising grew alongside. In the United States, the success of this advertising format eventually led to the growth of mailorder advertising. In 1841, the first advertising agency was established by Volney Palmer in Boston. At first, agencies were brokers for advertisement space in newspapers. N. W. Ayer & Son was the first full-service agency to assume responsibility for advertising content. N.W. Ayer opened in 1875, and was located in Philadelphia.
At the turn of the century, there were few career choices for women in business; however, advertising was one of the few. Since women were responsible for most of the purchasing done in their household, advertisers and agencies recognized the value of women's insight during the creative process. In fact, the first American advertising to use a sexual sell was created by a woman – for a soap product. Although tame by today's standards, the advertisement featured a couple with the message "The skin you love to touch". A print advertisement for the 1913 issue of the Encyclopedia Britannica When radio stations began broadcasting in the early 1920s, the programs were however nearly exploded. This was so because the first radio stations were established by radio equipment manufacturers and retailers who offered programs in order to sell more radios to consumers. As time passed, many nonprofit organizations followed suit in setting up their own radio stations, and included: schools, clubs and civic groups. When the practice of sponsoring programs was popularized, each individual radio program was usually sponsored by a single business in exchange for a brief mention of the business' name at the beginning and end of the sponsored shows. However, radio station owners soon realized they could earn more money by selling sponsorship rights in small time allocations to multiple businesses throughout their radio station's broadcasts, rather than selling the sponsorship rights to single businesses per show. This practice was carried over to television in the late 1940s and early 1950s. A fierce battle was fought between those seeking to commercialize the radio and people who argued that the radio spectrum should be considered a part of the commons – to be used only non-commercially and for the public good. The United Kingdom pursued a public funding model for the BBC, originally a private company but incorporated as a public body by Royal Charter in 1927. In Canada, advocates like Graham Spry were likewise able to persuade the federal government to adopt a public funding model. However, in the United States, the capitalist model prevailed with the passage of the 1934 Communications Act which created the Federal Communications Commission. To placate the socialists, the U.S. Congress did require commercial broadcasters to operate in the "public interest, convenience, and necessity". Nevertheless, public radio does exist
in the United States of America. In the early 1950s, the Dumont television network began the modern trend of selling advertisement time to multiple sponsors. Previously, Dumont had trouble finding sponsors for many of their programs and compensated by selling smaller blocks of advertising time to several businesses. This eventually became the norm for the commercial television industry in the United States. However, it was still a common practice to have single sponsor shows, such as the U.S. Steel Hour. In some instances the sponsors exercised great control over the content of the show - up to and including having one's advertising agency actually writing the show. The single sponsor model is much less prevalent now, a notable exception being the Hallmark Hall of Fame. The 1960s saw advertising transform into a modern approach in which creativity was allowed to shine, producing unexpected messages that made advertisements more tempting to consumers' eyes. The Volkswagen ad campaign--featuring such headlines as "Think Small" and "Lemon" (which were used to describe the appearance of the car)--ushered in the era of modern advertising by promoting a "position" or "unique selling proposition" designed to associate each brand with a specific idea in the reader or viewer's mind. This period of American advertising is called the Creative Revolution and its poster boy was Bill Bern Bach who helped create the revolutionary Volkswagen ads among others. Some of the most creative and long-standing American advertising dates to this incredibly creative period. Public advertising on Times Square, New York City. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the introduction of cable television and particularly MTV. Pioneering the concept of the music video, MTV ushered in a new type of advertising: the consumer tunes in for the advertising message, rather than it being a byproduct or afterthought. As cable and satellite television became increasingly prevalent, specialty channels emerged, including channels entirely devoted to advertising, such as QVC, Home Shopping Network, and Shop TV.
Marketing through the Internet opened new frontiers for advertisers and contributed to the "dotcom" boom of the 1990s. Entire corporations operated solely on advertising revenue, offering everything from coupons to free Internet access. At the turn of the 21st century, a number of websites including the search engine Google, started a change in online advertising by emphasizing contextually relevant, unobtrusive ads intended to help, rather than inundate, users. This has led to a plethora of similar efforts and an increasing trend of interactive advertising. The share of advertising spending relative to GDP has changed little across large changes in media. For example, in the U.S. in 1925, the main advertising media were newspapers, magazines, signs on streetcars, and outdoor posters. Advertising spending as a share of GDP was about 2.9%. By 1998, television and radio had become major advertising media. Nonetheless, advertising spending as a share of GDP was slightly lower -- about 2.4%. A recent advertising innovation is "guerrilla promotions", which involve unusual approaches such as staged encounters in public places, giveaways of products such as cars that are covered with brand messages, and interactive advertising where the viewer can respond to become part of the advertising message. This reflects an increasing trend of interactive and "embedded" ads, such as via product placement, having consumers vote through text messages, and various innovations utilizing social networking sites (e.g. My Space). Paul McManus, the Creative Director of TBWA\Europe in the late 90's summed up advertising as being "...all about understanding. Understanding of the brand, the product or the service being offered and understanding of the people (their hopes and fears and needs) who are going to interact with it. Great advertising is the creative expression of that understanding."
MOBILE BILL BOARD ADVERTISING:
Mobile Billboards are flat-panel campaign units in which their sole purpose is to carry advertisements along dedicated routes selected by clients prior to the start of a campaign. Mobile Billboard companies do not typically carry third-party cargo or freight. Mobile displays are used for various situations in metropolitan areas throughout the world, including:
? Target advertising ? One day, and long term campaigns ? Convention ? Sporting events ? Store openings or other similar promotional events ? Big advertisements from smaller companies
PUBLIC SERVICE ADVERTISING:
The same advertising techniques used to promote commercial goods and services can be used to inform, educate and motivate the public about non-commercial issues, such as AIDS, political ideology, energy conservation, religious recruitment, and deforestation. Advertising, in its non-commercial guise, is a powerful educational tool capable of reaching and motivating large audiences. "Advertising justifies its existence when used in the public interest it is much too powerful a tool to use solely for commercial purposes." - Attributed to Howard Gossage by David Ogilvy Public service advertising, non-commercial advertising, public interest advertising, cause marketing, and social marketing are different terms for (or aspects of) the use of sophisticated advertising and marketing communications techniques (generally associated with commercial enterprise) on behalf of non-commercial, public interest issues and initiatives. In the United States, the granting of television and radio licenses by the FCC is contingent upon the station broadcasting a certain amount of public service advertising. To meet these requirements, many broadcast stations in America air the bulk of their required Public Service Announcements during the late night or early morning when the smallest percentage of viewers are watching, leaving more day and prime time commercial slots available for high-paying advertisers.
Public service advertising reached its height during World Wars I and II under the direction of several governments. Now in days, people average around 500 advertisements a day, found one researcher.
TYPES OF ADVERTISING
MEDIA:
Paying people to hold signs is one of the oldest forms of advertising, as with this Human directional pictured above, a bus with an advertisement for GAP in Singapore. Buses and other vehicles are popular mediums for advertisers. ADBAG Class 101 with UNICEF ads at Ingolstadt main railway station. Commercial advertising media can include wall paintings, billboards, street furniture components, printed flyers and rack cards, radio, cinema and television ads, web banners, mobile telephone screens, shopping carts, web popup, skywriting, bus stop benches, human directional, magazines, newspapers, town criers, sides of buses or airplanes ("logo jets"), taxicab doors, roof mounts and passenger screens, musical stage shows, subway platforms and trains, elastic bands on disposable diapers, stickers on apples in supermarkets, the opening section of streaming audio and video, posters, and the backs of event tickets and supermarket receipts. Any place an "identified" sponsor pays to deliver their message through a medium is advertising.
Another way to measure advertising effectiveness is known as ad tracking. This advertising research methodology measures shifts in target market perceptions about the brand and product or service. These shifts in perception are plotted against the consumers’ levels of exposure to the company’s advertisements and promotions. The purpose of Ad Tracking is generally to provide a measure of the combined effect of the media weight or spending level, the effectiveness of the media buy or targeting, and the quality of the advertising executions or creative. Ad Tracking Article
COVERT ADVERTISING:
Covert advertising is when a product or brand is embedded in entertainment and media. For example, in a film, the main character can use an item or other of a definite brand, as in the movie Minority Report, where Tom Cruise's character John Ander ton owns a phone with the Nokia logo clearly written in the top corner, or his watch engraved with the Bulgaria logo. Another example of advertising in film is in I, Robot, where main character played by Will Smith mentions his Converse shoes several times, calling them "classics," because the film is set far in the future. I, Robot and Space balls also showcase futuristic cars with the Audi and Mercedes-Benz logos clearly displayed on the front of the vehicles. Cadillac chose to advertise in the movie The Matrix Reloaded, which as a result contained many scenes in which Cadillac cars were used. Similarly, product placement for Omega Watches, Ford, Vaio, BMW and Aston-Martin cars are featured in recent James Bond films, most notably Casino Royale.
TELEVISION COMMERCIALS:
MAIN ARTICLE: TELIVISION ADVERTISEMENT: The TV commercial is generally considered the most effective mass-market advertising format, as is reflected by the high prices TV networks charge for commercial airtime during popular TV events. The annual Super Bowl football game in the United States is known as the most prominent advertising event on television. The average cost of a single thirty-second TV spot during this game has reached $2.7 million (as of 2007). Virtual advertisements may be inserted into regular television programming through computer graphics. It is typically inserted into otherwise blank backdrops or used to replace local billboards that are not relevant to the remote broadcast audience, More controversially, virtual billboards may be inserted into the background, where none existing in real-life. Virtual product placement is also possible.
NEWER MEDIA AND ADVERTISING APPROACHES:
Increasingly, other media are overtaking television because of a shift towards Consumer’s usage of the internet as well as devices such as TiVo. Advertising on the World Wide Web is a recent
phenomenon. Prices of Web-based advertising space are dependent on the "relevance" of the surrounding web content and the traffic that the website receives. E-mail advertising is another recent phenomenon. Unsolicited bulk E-mail advertising is known as "spam". Some companies have proposed to place messages or corporate logos on the side of booster rockets and the International Space Station. Controversy exists on the effectiveness of subliminal advertising (see mind control), and the pervasiveness of mass messages (see propaganda). Unpaid advertising (also called word of mouth advertising), can provide good exposure at minimal cost. Personal recommendations ("bring a friend", "sell it"), spreading buzz, or achieving the feat of equating a brand with a common noun (in the United States, "Xerox" = "photocopier", "Kleenex" = tissue, "Vaseline" = petroleum jelly, "Hoover" = vacuum cleaner, and "Band-Aid" = adhesive bandage) — these are the pinnacles of any advertising campaign. However, some companies oppose the use of their brand name to label an object. Equating a brand with a common noun also risks turning that brand into a generalized trademark - turning it into a generic term which means that its legal protection as a trademark is lost. SMS (Short Message Service) text messages have taken Europe by storm and are breaking into the USA. The addition of a text-back number is gaining prevalence as a www address of yesterday. Used as part of your companies 'how to contact us' these can be very effective. These can be a (rented) keyword on a short-code or your own system on a standard number (like Mojio Messenger). The benefit of SMS text messages is people can respond where they are, right now, stuck in traffic, sitting on the metro. The use of SMS text messages can also be a great way to get a viral (word-of-mouth) campaign off the ground to build your own database of prospects sees viral marketing. Interstitial advertisement is a form of advertisement which takes place while a page loads.
From time to time, The CW airs short programming breaks called "Content Wraps," to advertise one company's product during an entire commercial break. The CW pioneered "content wraps" and some products featured were Herbal Essences, Crest, Guitar Hero 2, Cover Girl, and recently Toyota.
MEASURING THE IMPACT OF MASS ADVERTISING:
The most common method for measuring the impact of mass media advertising is the use of the rating point (rp) or the more accurate target rating point (trp). These two measures refer to the percentage of the universe of the existing base of audience members that can be reached by the use of each media outlet in a particular moment in time. The difference between the two is that the rating point refers to the percentage to the entire universe while the target rating point refers to the percentage of a particular segment or target. This becomes very useful when focusing advertising efforts on a particular group of people. One of the reasons advertising is successful is because it can target a particular audience to build awareness of what the advertiser has to offer.
NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING:
An extensively documented effect is the control and vetoing of free information by the advertisers. Any negative information on a company or its products or operations often results in pressures from the company to withdraw such information lines, threatening to cut their ads. This behavior makes the editors of the media self-censor content that might upset their ad payers. The bigger the companies are, the bigger their relation becomes, maximizing control over a single piece of information. Advertisers may try to minimize information about or from consumer groups, consumer-controlled purchasing initiatives (as joint purchase systems), or consumercontrolled quality information systems. Another indirect effect of advertising is to modify the nature of the communication media where it is shown. Media that get most of their revenues from publicity try to make their medium a good place for communicating ads before anything else. The clearest example is television, where broadcasters try to make the public stay for a long time in a mental state that encourages
spectators not to switch the channel during advertisements. Programs that are low in mental stimulus, require light concentration and are varied are best for long sitting times. These also make for much easier emotional transition to ads, which are occasionally more entertaining than the regular shows. A simple way to understand objectives in television programming is to compare the content of programs paid for and chosen by the viewer with those on channels that get their income mainly from advertisements. In several books, articles and videos, communication professor Sut Jhally has argued that pervasive commercial advertising, by constantly reinforcing a bogus association between consumption and happiness and by focusing on individual immediate needs, leads to a squandering of resources and stands in the way of a discussion of fundamental societal and longterm needs.
MANAGING ADVERTISING DECISIONS:
Delivering an effective marketing message through advertising requires many different decisions as the marketer develops their advertising campaign. For small campaigns, that involve little creative effort, one or a few people may handle the bulk of the work. In fact, the Internet has made do-it-yourself advertising an easy to manage process and has especially empowered small businesses to manage their advertising decisions. As we will see, not only can small firms handle the creation and placement of advertisements that appear on the Internet, new services have even made it possible for a single person to create advertisements that run on local television. For instance, a company called Spot Runner allows users to select from a list of high-quality television ads that can be customized and then placed within local cable television programming. For larger campaigns the skills needed to make sound advertising decisions can be quite varied and may not be easily handled by a single person. While larger companies manage some advertising activities within the company, they are more likely to rely on the assistance of advertising professionals, such as those found at advertising agencies, to help bring their advertising campaign to market.
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