Submitted By:

NAME
Golam Al Shawon Md. Muhibbur Rahman Md. Ashraful Mumin Sharif Ahmed

ID NO.
2010-2-10-217 2010-1-10-102 2010-1-10-021 2010-2-10-255

Submitted To:
Mahmud Zubayer
Assistant Professor Department of Business Administration East West University

Topic: A term paper on BANGLALINK

Acknowledgement
First and foremost I would like to thank my teacher Mr. Mahmud Zubayer to give me opportunity to make a term paper on Factors Influencing Consumers Buying Pattern towards in Bangladesh: A study on Banglalink as well as for providing full assistance and detailed out line about how to proceed with data collection and report writing procedure. We considered your remarks and instructions very carefully while preparing this report. We have tired our best to follow your schedule, format and discipline. We tired to focus all the areas related to this report and we also used your lecture to fulfill your requirements. I would also like to thank Mr. Nafisa Islam, Senior Assistant Manager of Finance, Lanka Bangla Securities for her cordial assistance and guidance me to prepare this report. We will always be indebted to you for your kind consideration and also for the suggestion regarding the report writing works. In addition, I would like to thank all employees of Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), Bangladesh for their kind co-operation I am really grateful to my cousin, Mr. Mohammad Shamim Uddin for his kind cooperation and help to make this report. Finally, I would like to say, without all of your guidance and co-operations this report would never have been completed.

Sharif Ahmed Md. Ashraful Mumin

: :

ID# 2010-2-10-255 ID# 2010-1-10-021 ID# 2010-1-10-102 ID# 2010-2-10-217

Md. Muhibbur Rahman: Golam Al Shawon :

Table of Contents
S.L No. 1 2 3 4 A B 5 A B C D 6 A B 7 A B 8 10 11 12 Particulars Acknowledgement Executive Summery Introduction Objective of study Primary objective Specific objective Methodology of the study Research Method Primary Sources Secondary Sources Limitations of the study Strengths & Weaknesses of the Brand from an Image Perspective Strengths Weaknesses Strengths & Weaknesses of the Product or services Strengths Weaknesses Factors Influencing Consumers buying pattern Recommendation Conclusion Sources Page No. 03 05 06 07 07 07 08 08 08 09 09 10-12 10-11 11-12 12-16 12-15 16 17-23 24 24 25

Executive Summary:
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Banglalink is new brand name of Shebaworld (019), which has been providing Global Service of Mobile (GSM) in the country since 1998. Orascom Telecom bought 100% share of Sheba Telecom and gave its new name as Banglalink aiming to provide quality service in Bangladesh. When Banglalink entered the Bangladesh telecom industry in February 2005, thescenario changed overnight with mobile telephony becoming an extremely useful and affordable communication tool for people across all segments. Within one year of operation, Banglalink became the fastest growing mobile operator of the country with a growth rate of 257%. This milestone was achieved with innovative and attractive products and services targeting the different market segments; aggressive improvement of network quality and dedicated customer care; and effective communication that emotionally connected customers with Banglalink. Banglalink entered the market with a promise of making mobile phone affordable for people. This promise was kept and Banglalink was the first operator to introduce aflat rate for all calls (inside own network and to other operators) for the convenience and ease of customers. Banglalink focused heavily on enhancing service and quality during 2006. These enhancements were done in terms of network quality and customer service. Therewas aggressive improvement of indoor coverage and wherever necessary, especially inbuilding solutions were installed in case of enterprise customers and corporate clients. To provide better customer service, a new, expanded, state of theart call center has also been established. At the end of the 2006, there have been asix customer care centers and 63 franchise centers across the country attending various customers with different queries. Banglalink continues to play an active role in the area of corporate social responsibility. Banglalink has given Dhaka International Airport - the gateway of Bangladesh a completely new look. Provision of high quality passenger trolleys, phone booths, emergency charging station and beautification of the premises is an exemplary initiative which no other multinational has taken. Banglalink also contributed to an important tiger conservation project in the Sundarbans, and continues to support the Cox's bazaar beach cleaning program.

Introduction
Banglalink is one of the leading cellular companies in Bangladesh. It starts its operation since 2000. Within one year of launching it has become one of the leading cellular companies by its effective marketing mix. Effective segmentation and target market strategy it easily goes to the knock of the people by introducing various package for the customers. The company sets the price effectively. As a result people from various societies can get the facilities of cellular company. For the promotional sector Banglalink presents itself as an icon to the other companies. Within a very short time it spreads its network coverage and maintains an indirect distribution channel to reach the consumer. Banglalink (BL) is the 2nd largest mobile company in Bangladesh. Out of five mobile companies (Grameen Phone, Robi, Banglalink, Citycell, Airtel and Teletalk) Banglalink managedto secure this position only in a year. Banglalink has completed its 1st year successfully in Bangladesh. The growth rate of the company is tremendous (currently 2.5 million subscribers).During its birth year BL has concentrated on heavy advertisement. Now BL is a known brand toevery Bangladeshi. It has been possible because of the strong public relation (PR) &communication department of the company. It is very important to evaluate the factors influencing consumers buying pattern of banglalink .

Objective of the study:

Primary Objective:
Analyzing the factors influencing consumers buying pattern and present status of the service and also the satisfaction level of Banglalink subscribers in Dhaka City.

Specific Objective:
The specific objective is fulfilling the following objectives: To describe factors that influence consumer buying pattern. To describe the services that Banglalink provides. To find some strength points of Banglalink. To find some weak points of Banglalink Analyzing the product, price, place and promotion. To compare the service offered by the Banglalink with regards to their customers expectations. To analyze whether the service is demandable for the telecommunication market. To determine that the special feature that differentiates Banglalink from others.

Methodology of the study:

The report is done as a part of the research of the course MKT 201 (Marketing Management). The report focuses on Banglalink as we found much interest in the flourishing telecom industry. The study covers the operation of banglalink. Moreover, history of banglalink, Its prospects in Bangladesh, its activities , Strengths and weakness ,factors that influence consmers buying pattern . For this study information is collected from both primary and secondary sources. Investor relations section of the Website www.banglalinkgsm.com is an immense source of information about Banglalink.

Research Method:
The research paper is made focused on the data collected from different sources. Data was mainly obtained from internet and marketing department of Banglalink.

Primary Sources:
Primary sources are the impotent stage of methodology. Primary data are in the form of raw material to which statistical methods are applied for the purpose of analysis and interpretations. In the primary sources primary information or data are collected. Those data or information are applied for the purpose of segregation and explanation. The primary sources are discussion with employees, datas collected through questionnaire. The employees are played a vital role for the company.

Secondary Sources:
After finishing the primary sources then comes secondary sources.In the secondary sources we collected secondary datas. Secondary data means some finished products as they have already been treated. The secondary data mainly consists of data and information collected from records, company websites and also discussion with the management of the organization. Secondary data was also collected from journals, magazines and books, informations was taken from previous reports and also from the Internet.The secondary data sources are huge, among them some important and related datas should be collected .

Limitations:
We are pretty confident of the reports success but we believe it could have been improved. The following factors had limited our success significantly:

The lack of accurate secondary data. The vastness of the topic. Unwillingness of the respondents to provide accurate data. The employees did not share the companys secret with others which might have impeded data collection. The report being prepared on the basis of responses gathered from 50 respondents only as a result of which, the finding of this report might not exactly resemble the whole population.

Strength & Weakness of BANGLALINK from an Image Perspective

Strengths

Shows enthusiasm
Banglalink created an enthusiastic impression to customers mind especially to youngers mind by their promotional tactics. They always try to focus on something cheerful; joyful that makes people feel more enthusiastic.

Grabbed a position in youngers mind

BANGLALINK is operating their business targeting the young generation. They are launching new features, packages and services randomly for the mid age people. So younger people are turning into their loyal customer for their extraordinary customized feature for younger.

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 Create an image like it is less expensive

When people think about some offers that are less expensive they firstly think about BANGLALINK. Because BANGLALINK always tries to introduce new feature or service or package with least cost. So people have got an image in their mind that BANGLALINK is always less expensive.

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 Innovative:
BANGLALINK kept a very good market share for their innovative and distinct features. People have got an impression about BANGALINK that it is always something new and innovative.

Weaknesses
Could not capture everyones attention
People who are old enough they are not willing to use BANGLALINK. It is only working for the young generation. So orders are not getting much benefit from here. So BANGLALINK couldnt make any influence on their mind.

Jingle dependent
BANGLALINK mainly operate their promotional activities by jingle. But all the time people dont like only jingle. So in this case, sometimes people dont take it in a good way.

Lack of clearness of TVC

Sometimes TVCs of BANGLALINK are not clear enough to the customer. They are not providing informative TVC. Their TVC are mainly jingle dependent. That is why often people get bother. Because they cannot find the exact message from those jingle based TVC.

Strengths & Weaknesses of Services of BANLALINK

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Strengths
Strong Network
Banglalink is constantly investing and expanding their infrastructure to ensure high quality service for our customers. Their nationwide fiber optic network is a great example of this and speaks of their relentless commitment.

Strong customer care service

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Banglalink ensured 24 hours customer care services. They have set the benchmark in customer care with our state-of-the-art call center, widest customer care touch points and a passionate & vigilant team always ready to serve the people better.

Sales and care center

BANGLALINK sales & care centre with a trained team strives to guarantee customer - oriented service aiming to satisfy the subscribers with proactive attitude and efficient solution. Their customer care representative serves the customer with pleasure. Here some of their sales & care centers addresses are given-

BANGLALINK sales & care centers Location dhaka ccc (gulshan) rangs arcade ground floor, south side 153/a gulshan north avenue gulshan circle - 2 dhaka ccc (motijheel) humayun court ground floor, 21 motijheel c/a dhaka - 1000 chittagong ccc forum central, ground floor 787/863, m.m. ali road golpahar circle chittagong-4000. fax: 031- 638864 fax: 02-9563638 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. sunday - thursday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. saturday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. friday Contact Number fax: 02-9862607 Working Hour

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 Suitable packages
BANLALINK offers different types of packages for different types of people. People have various kinds of choice and preferences. According to their taste and preferences BANLALINK provides their packages.

Cheap call rate

Banglalink offers packages with very low charges. They are charging least cost. That is why people get involved with this.

Launching new types of services

Banglalink is launching new services now a day. They have launched their internet modem; they are providing internet services, SME banking services, music station for music lover. Actually they are trying to satisfy all kinds of needs of their customer. Their more new features are JOBSLINK for helping people to get job update. PROBASHI KORMI SHEBA for helping people who want to go abroad, etc. BANLALINK mobile train ticket.

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Weaknesses

Unorganized Structure
OTH bought off Sheba (Pvt.) Limited last September and immediately started changing the structure of the loosing concern. They are constantly recruiting people, adding/deleting levels to the organ gram. Thus, the environment is constantly chaotic, with many people not knowing who to contact or whom to report to and who is responsible for what. This takes away time and energy away from the selling activities.

Inadequate human resources:

While many people drop off their CV sat the office on a regular basis, finding sufficient numbers of people, with the correct qualifications, has become hard to find. Hence, a handful of people are doing the work of many leading to back log of work. 16

 Bureaucracy:
The new management is trying to create a system where each individual is responsible and accountable for his duty. While it is a good idea, it has also created a bottleneck at the administrative and financial level, where work gets stuck and stays stuck until all papers are properly signed and taken care of

Factors influencing the choice of entry mode

When a company decides to expand its business to a foreign country, a substantial planning process and several crucial decisions await. The market potential has to be assessed and weighed against company capabilities and the degree of commitment that the management is prepared to make. Following steps should result in the choice of a potential market, and later on, an entry mode that fits chosen marketplace. The entry modes vary; some demands larger investments of capital, resources and management effort, while others involve less stake and commitment for a limited share of the market. Each entry mode has its advantages and disadvantage, depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the company, the degree of commitment the company is willing or able to dedicate and the characteristics of the particular market. International environments include uncontrollable elements such as economic, cultural, legal, political elements. A company is generally exposed to many uncontrollable forces in the domestic market as well, but generally the company is more familiar with the characteristics of these 17

elements. In contrast to these uncontrollable elements, the company can use internal controllable elements such as product, price, promotion and channels of distribution, in order to adjust and adapt itself when necessary. To adjust and adapt a marketing program to a foreign market, the uncontrollable elements should be detected, and the influence and impact of these should be interpreted effectively. When deciding to enter a foreign market, knowledge of the market is indispensable; but in itself its not enough as the company is restricted by its resources, as well as management perceptions and objectives. A generic strategy is needed for the company as a whole to cope with expansion. A generic strategy Can be considered as the core strategy of the company. It should be possible to apply across markets and products. The generic strategy doesnt limit the companys adaption to different markets, in fact a company should adopt specific marketing strategies to be as successful as possible, but there should also be an overall strategy governing the uniformity of the firm. There are two general generic strategies that companies most commonly adopt, (1) differentiation strategy; which is when the company focuses on trying to convince the consumers that their product is different from others, or (2) focus strategy; when the company puts focus on particular a particular market segment or part of the product line.Franklin (1998) has described some factors that could be essential to consider before deciding an entry mode. The factors have been named into two different classes namely external and internal factors.

External factors:
External factors are related to target country uncontrollable and also home country uncontrollable. And internal factors are factors that are related to company which are said to be controllable. These factors can affect the companys decision making process either by encouraging or by discouraging. But no single factors can influence the decisionmaking process. The following figure at a glance shows the factors:As it has been mentioned before that the entry strategy should be formulated according to the situations of these factors. In case of a high sales potential ofthe target country market, the company can plan for an export entry mode (Branch or subsidiary) or Investment entry mode 18

(Equity investment/ joint venture). When the competitive structure of the market shows atomistic/oligopolistic competition in the market, an export /investment entry mode is preferable (Franklin 1998). But decision should not be taken by only looking at one factor. All factors should be considered and when highest number of factors will indicate towards a certain type of entry mode, the company should plan for that. For example, below in the table, there are 44 internal and external factors. Suppose a company has investigated all these factors and found that 20of these factors are suggesting for an investment entry mode, 16 factors aresuggesting export entry mode and 8 factors are suggesting some other entrymode. Since highest number of factors (20) are suggesting for an investment entry mode, the company should plan for it. Below the table shows the factors. Generally Favors Indirect and Agent/distributor Exporting Licensing Branch or Subsidiary Exporting Equity Investment Or production Service,Contract

Internal Factors
Banglalink has a differentiated standard product. This has been understood by the market share they are holding now. And also their product is technology intensive product as they provide high class technology through their product. Itcan also be said that their product is service intensive product as they providequality service along with the product. Banglalink believes in high product adaption as they give highest priority to theinvolvement of customers during product development stage. The finding shows that 19

banglalink has substantial resources and high commitment to its customers. The company believes in providing the best to its customer. Now we are going to narrow down the table formulated by Franklin (1998). The readers might see that some rows have been deleted from the original table. The rows that are not telling the true current situation of the factors havebeen deleted. For example, under foreign country factors, the market is showinghigh sales potential. So, the row belongs to low sales potential has beendeleted. Again, since oligopolistic competition has been found, so row corresponding to that has been kept and the row belongs to atomistic competition has been deleted. The purpose of doing this is to see where the table stands now Generally Favors Indirect and Agent/distributor Exporting Licensing Branch or Subsidiary Exporting Equity Investment Or production Service Contract

The real tigers behind the stripes!

We, at banglalink, believe that our teamwork is our greatest asset. useful contributions made by each individual bring us that much closer to our goals. the banglalink family is made up of a group of passionate individuals, uniquely qualified from diverse disciplines but working towards our vision.

Banglalink ensures for the tigers/tigress:

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A friendly, professional and mutually supportive environment that encourages our people to develop their potentials to an optimal level.

A true quality of professionalism that can be found in all world-class multinational companies.

Team oriented professionals, who contribute to the greater whole of the organization through their participation in decision making situations.

a system which recognizes and rewards groups as well as individuals for their efforts and contributions to the company.

Marketing Mix:
Product:
There are different post-paid and pre-paid packages that are considered as the main quality offering from Banglalink. Banglalink provides the pre paid connection with zero monthly subscription fees, secondly they have one country one rate. 30 day free incoming facility after the expiration of validity period, Banglalink was the first cellular network to introduce the most demanded feature i.e. the facility of free incoming calls. Prior to the introduction of free incoming facility every telecom company used to charge even on receiving the calls with in the territory of Bangladesh.

Price:

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 Maintained prices are mostly offered resolving around a certain figure. Their unique selling proposition is innovativeness of their services alongside their value added features. Prices also vary with respect to the post-paid as well as pre-paid package subscription. Banglalinks price effective strategy has enabled them to capture the second highest market chunk in the country.

Place:
Banglalink is currently operating in 64 district of the country where they are making their presence felt through franchises. Their network is very strong except some districts. For a telecom giant like Banglalink their unusual and informal distribution system is the most effective one where people can not only buy new connections but they can also get their queries entertained there as well regarding their current package and for the forthcoming packages as well.

Promotion:
Advertising media: Banglalink became a leader in terms of its advertising quality and setting very high standards for competition and other. To campaign their product most effectively. banglalink uses combination of different media to reach the highest percentage of the customers the combination would include : Print media Television

Print media: 22

It is the habit of our people to go through some kind of newspapers or magazines and Banglalinks eye catching newspaper ads has attracted a lot of customers for the company. Television: The corporate TV commercial of din bodol based on the theme making a difference in peoples loves. touched everyone throughout the country and was adjudged the best TVC of the year according to the leading dailies of the country like Prothom Alo and New Age. This TV Commercial has become a matter of national pride for Bangladesh as it has been nominated for the best TV Advertisement of the year with 4 other international television commercials at the GSMA Award 2007. GSMA Award is considered to be the Oscar of mobile industry.

Billboards: Billboards are the cheapest and easiest way to catch the attention of the moving people of the city. The billboards of Banglalink are hung beside the busiest of roads and streets of the city. Where people travel frequently such as Gulshan, Banani, Dhanmondi, uttara etc. Transit Advertising: One of the most popular ways of advertising today is transit advertising, which are the ads on body of the big buses as majority of the people of the country uses them for traveling. Health link:

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They provide 24 hours health link service or telemedicine for Banglalink customers by dialing 789. Other Promotional Activities: Banglalink continues to play an active role in the area of corporate social responsibility. Banglalink has given Dhaka International Airport-the gateway of Bangladesh a completely new look. Provision of high quality passenger trolleys, phone booths, emergency charging station and beautification of the premises is an exemplary initiative which no other multinational has taken. Banglalink also contributed to an important tiger conservation project in the Sundarbans, and continues to support the Coxs bazar beach cleaning program.

Recommendation:
To get rid of the problem we think the following steps can be taken: They must try to increase the local investment to increase technological progress for better networking. They should improve the promotional quality. They should go for more persuasive and aggressive ad than the competitors. They should decrease the call rate to attract new customers. They have to increase their market share. They should increase their expanse in CSR. The company must develop the infrastructure and the network more efficiently.

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Conclusion:
Banglalink, one of the leading mobile operator company in Bangladesh is pledged bound to serve its customers with numerous lofty and fascinating facilities at competitive tariff rates and billing precise. Banglalink always want to improve the facilities and services to the subscribers to provide the maximum benefits. So they always try to set the pricing policy in favor of the customers. From all our research and findings we can come to this point that Banglalink is now providing a very reasonable and flexible pricing system to fulfill the customers demand and requirements. They have some unique specialties in the market and they are continuously trying to improve this service quality and to overcome all their obstacles and mistakes to touch the maximum satisfaction level of the customer. Therefore at the current period among all the mobile phone operators in our country it has been possible for Banglalink to hold its market position and profitability in an efficient manner.

Sources:
Google Past reports Survey Current Banglalink users Banglalink customer care center

WWW.Banglalink.com

News paper
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 Magazines Banglalink office.

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