PROJECT REPORT ON TO KNOW THE CUSTOMER RESPONSE TOWARDS ADVERTISING BY AIRTEL AND VODAFONE MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINIATRATION (2007-2009)

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY : Dheeraj Sharma Sandeep rana Roll No- 7116223114 INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND COMPUTER TECHONOLOGY MANDI GOBINDGARH

CERTIFICATE This is to certify that Mr.Sandeep Rana assigned the research project on TO KNOW THE CUSTOMER RESPONSE TOWARDS ADVERTISING BY AIRTEL AND VODAFONE IN TELECOME SECTOR . He has submitted this project report in accordance with the guide lines. To the best of my knowledge this is his origina l work and not submitted else where for reward of any other degree or any diploma. DATE PROJECT GUIDE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to express my deep gradtitude to Mr.Dheeraj sharma for acting as a guide and providing me with continuous support and guidance. This repot could not have bee n completed without the inputs and the words of advice from his far which I shall always remain grateful to him. I wish gratitude to my other faculity members for taking keen interest in my project work and fine-tuning my efforts as and when required. Sandeep Rana Roll.No- 7116223114 CONTENTS S CONTENTS PAGE NO.

.NO 1 CHAPTER Introduction to the study Advertising. Types of advertising. Telecom sector in India. 1-12 6-7 8-9 10-12 2 CHAPTER Company profile Air Tel Vodafone 13-25 14-16 17-25 3 CHAPTER Organisation of study Objective of the study Research methodology 26 27-28 4 CHAPTER Data analysis and Interpretations 29-46 5 CHAPTER Findings 47 Refrences 48 Questionnaire 49-51 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY We are in the era of entertainment through mobile handsets. Downloading a ring t one watching your favorite movie of tracking cricket score the list of activity that you can do using your cell phone is endless. To supplement stagnant voice revenues cellular operator are now turning to VAS to boost revenues in both data and value added v oice

service. Both Air Tel and Vodafone has deep rooted presence in the Indian teleco m sector through there wide product offerings and excellent distribution network In this report I have tried to analyze the present scenario of Indian telecom se ctor the real aim of the project is to study the effectiveness and response towards advertisem ent provided by Air Tel and Vodafone, but many sub objectives are also included unde r this project so as to make it comprehensive one. I complement this with the internal study of the companies history , vision busi ness areas etc to analyze how well poised the company are to complete or rather just exist in this market that is proving itself to be the most competitive in post liberaliza tion Indian economy. Primary data was collected in which focus group study was conducted to design th e customer survey questionnaire with a sample size of 50 respondents. This survey was conducted in Ludhiana, secondary data was collected through websites articles et c. Data thus collected was analyzed and reported. ADVERTISING WHAT IS ADVERTISING?

Advertising is a non-personal form of promotion that is delivered through select ed 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 tha t a single message can reach a large number of people. But, this mass promotion appr oach 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 n ew 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 positio n to immediately respond to the message (e.g., seek more information). This too is ch anging. For example, in the next few years technologies will be readily available to ena ble 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 adve rtising 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 a dvertising does not stimulate immediate demand for the product advertised. That is, custome rs 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 advertisi ng to quickly stimulate demand will improve. IMPORTANCE OF ADVERTISING: Spending on advertising is huge. One often quoted statistic by market research f irm ZenithOptimedia estimates that worldwide spending on advertising exceeds (US) $4 00 billion. This level of spending supports thousands of companies and millions of jobs. In fact, in many countries most media outlets, such as television, radio and newspa pers, would not be in business without revenue generated through the sale of advertisi ng.

While worldwide advertising is an important contributor to economic growth, indi vidual marketing organizations differ on the role advertising plays. For some organizat ions little advertising may be done, instead promotional money is spent on other promotion o ptions such a personal selling through a sales team. For some smaller companies adverti sing may consist of occasional advertisement and on a very small scale, such as placi ng small ads in the classified section of a local newspaper. But most organizations, large and small, that rely on marketing to create custom er interest are engaged in consistent use of advertising to help meet marketing objectives. This includes regularly developing advertising campaigns, which involve a series of d ecisions for planning, creating, delivering and evaluating an advertising effort. We will cover advertising campaigns in greater detail in our next tutorial. MANAGING ADVERTISING DECISIONS: Delivering an effective marketing message through advertising requires many diff erent decisions as the marketer develops their advertising campaign. For small campaig ns, that involve little creative effort, one or a few people may handle the bulk of the w ork. 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 advertisement s that appear on the Internet, new services have even made it possible for a single per son to create advertisements that run on local television. For instance, a company call ed SpotRunner allows users to select from a list of high-quality television ads tha t can be customized and then placed within local cable television programming. For larger campaigns the skills needed to make sound advertising decisions can b e 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 r ely on the assistance of advertising professionals, such as those found at advertising agencies, to help bring their advertising campaign to market. TYPES OF ADVERTISING: If you ask most people what is meant by type of advertising, invariably they will respond by defining it in terms of how it is delivered (e.g., television ad, rad io ad, etc.). But in marketing, type of advertising refers to the primary focus of the message b

eing sent and falls into one of the following four categories:

PRODUCT-ORIENTED ADVERTISING: information Most advertising spending is directed toward the promotion of a spec ific good, service or idea, what we have collectively labeled as an organization s prod uct. In most cases the goal of product advertising is to clearly promote a specific prod uct to a targeted audience. Marketers can accomplish this in several ways from a low-key approach that simply provides basic about a product (informative advertising) to blatant appeals that try to convince customers to purchase a product (persuasive adverti sing) that may include direct comparisons between the marketer s product and its competitor s offerings (comparative advertising). However, sometimes marketers intentionally produce product advertising where the target audience cannot readily see a connection to a specific product. Marketers of new products may follow this teaser approach in advance of a new product introduction to prepare the market for the product. For instance, one week before the launch of a new product a marketer may air a television advertisement proclaiming After next week the world will never be the same but do so without any mention of a product or even t he company behind the ad. The goal is to create curiosity in the market and interes t when the product is launched. IMAGE ADVERTISING: Image advertising is undertaken primarily to enhance an organization s perceived importance to a target market. Image advertising does not focus on specific prod ucts as much as it presents what an organization has to offer. In these types of ads, if products are mentioned it is within the context of what we do rather than a message touting the benefits of a specific product. Image advertising is often used in situations wh ere an organization needs to educate the targeted audience on some issue. For instance, image advertising may be used in situations where a merger has occurred between two companies and the newly formed company has taken on a new name, or if a company has received recent negative publicity and the company wants to let the market know that they are about much more than this one issue. ADVOCACY ADVERTISING: Organizations also use advertising to send a message intended to influence a tar geted audience. In most cases there is an underlying benefit sought by an organization when they engage in advocacy advertising. For instance, an organization may take a st

and on a political issue which they feel could negatively impact the organization and wil l target advertisements to voice their position on the issue.

PUBLIC SERVICE ADVERTISING: In some countries, not-for-profit organizations are permitted to run advertiseme nts through certain media outlets free-of-charge if the message contained in the ad concerns an issue viewed as for the greater good of society. For instance, ads directed at social causes, such as teen-age smoking, illegal drug use and mental illness, may run o n television, radio and other media without cost to organizations sponsoring the advertisement. TELECOM SECTOR IN INDIA Than 125 million telephone network is one of the largest communication networks in world, which continues to grow at a blistering pace. The rapid growth in the telecom sector can be attributed to the various pro-acti ve and positive policy measures taken by the government as well as the dynamic and entrepreneurial spirit of the various telecom service providers both in private and public

sector. The telecom sector has shown impressive growth during the past decade. T oday, more Two striking features of this growth viz. increasing preference for mobile phone s and higher contribution of private sector in the incremental growth have predominate d the telecom sector. The share of mobile phones (including WLL mobile) has overtaken the share of landlines with 62% in the total number of phones. The private sector's contribution is also increasing rapidly. Currently more than 30 lakh phones are being added each month and it is targeted that by the end of 2008 the total number of phones may reach a level of 350 million taking the tele-density to more than 30% which is currently at 24.63%. Network Expansion : The total number of telephone subscribers has reached 281.62 million at the end of January 2008 as compared to 232.87 million in July 2007. T he overall teledensity has increased to 23.63% in January 2008 as compared to 21.20 % in August 2007. Wireless Service: The wireless segment saw a surge of 8.77 million subscribers l ast month compared to 8.17 million in December2007. This pushed the total wireless subscribers base to 242.40 million by Jan 31 2008. Wireline Subscribers: The wireline segment subscriber base stood at 39.73 millio n with a decrease of 0.16 million at the end of January 2008. Teledensity: The gross subscriber base reached 206.83 million at the end of Marc h 2007. The teledensity is 24.63%at the end of January 2008 as compared to 18.31% at the end of March 2007, registering an increase of 6%. Increasing Role of Private Sector: The private sector has played a significant r ole in the growth of telecom sector. The share of private sector has risen to 85 per cent i n December 2007 from 64.14 per cent in November 2006. Tariff Rebalancing Measures: There has been a dramatic fall in the tariffs due t o increased competition. The minimum effective charges for local calls have fallen considerably in recent months especially for cellular service. The long distance domestic as well as international charges have also fallen considerably. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI): TRAI was established under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 enacted on March 28,1997. The go als

and objectives of TRAI are focused towards providing a regulatory framework that facilitates achievement of the objectives of New Technology Policy (NTP) 1999. T RAI has endeavored to encourage greater corporation in the telecom sector together w ith better quality and affordable prices.

RURAL MOBILE MARKET IN INDIA India's telecommunication sector is witnessing an explosive growth, as falling t ariffs and rising incomes are bringing mobile phones within the reach of millions of new cu stomers. Mobile industry players are eyeing rural India as their new area of opportunity. The companies are getting a boost with the fact that the mobile users are expected t o cross 230 Million by 2007 end and 500 Million by 2010 with an addition of about 5 to 6 Million subscribers every month. Cellular service providers seem to be answering the call of the wild as they are entering the so far ignored rural market. Although a hug e market in the urban segment remains tapped, most of the cellular operators have turned tow ards rural India to broaden their base and reach. So the real growth is expected from this geography in near future. The low population density in rural areas has necessitated more towers of higher altitudes raising the costs further. Language is another problem and there are many dialec ts that had no alphabet in rural India. To meet these challenges, operators must come up with solutions like simplifying product access, offering customer centric solutions ( like songs, music, hello tunes that are popular), and infrastructure sharing. With saturation in the urban market, growth in Indian mobile market will be driven by an increased focus on the rural market, aggressive promotions, and handset bundle offers. As of March 2007, mobile subscribers in rural India accounted just 20% of the Indian mobile subscriber base. However, it is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of more than 47% during 2007 to 2010. In order to remain competitive, the mobile industry could see several mergers an d acquisitions, roll out obligation and substantiate equity holding in more than o ne telecom company. The major growth in mobile phone subscribers will be seen in C' Circle and B' Circle in short-term. Enormous opportunities are emerging for the low cost handset manufacturers along with low tariffs, infrastructure development for mobile communication. Rural India will account for around 35-38% of the total mobile handset sales by 2010 . Rural India - Future Outlook of Mobile Industry

The global mobile phone market is showing the signs of sluggishness but there is one telecom market growing at an outstanding pace -India. While the worldwide subscr iber

base posted a growth rate of around 25.7% from 2004 to 2006, subscriber base in India leaped by a strong 63.5% from March 2004 to March 2006 and further 83% from Marc h 2006 to March 2007, according to the leading market research firm RNCOS. This hu ge growth prompted the research firm to thoroughly study the market and look for fa ctors fuelling this outstanding growth in the Indian mobile market that have been comp iled in the report, "Emerging Rural Mobile Market in India" COMPANIES PROFILE

AIRTEL AND VODAFONE BHARTI AIRTEL Bharti Airtel, formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (BTVL) is India's largest cellular service provider with more than 75 million subscribers as of Au gust 2008.It also offers fixed line services and broadband services. It offers its TE LECOM services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Mittal. The company also provides telephone services and Internet access over DSL in 14 circles. The comp any

complements its mobile, broadband & telephone services with national and interna tional long distance services. The company also has a submarine cable landing station a t Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore. Th e company provides end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate custom ers through its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-lin e and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gatewa ys and landing station. Bharti Airtel, formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (BTVL) is India's largest cellular service provider with more than 75 million subscribers as of Au gust 2008. It also offers fixed line services and broadband services. It offers its TELECOM services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Mittal. The company also provides telephone services and Internet access over DSL in 14 circles. The company complements its mobile, broadband & telephone services with national and interna tional long distance services. The company also has a submarine cable landing station a t Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore. Th e company provides end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate custom ers through its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-lin e and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gatewa ys and landing station. AIRTEL Airtel is a brand of telecommunication services in India operated by Bharti Airt el. Airtel is the largest cellular service provider in India in terms of number of s ubscribers. Bharti Airtel owns the Airtel brand and provides the following services under th e brand name Airtel: Mobile Services (using GSM Technology), Broadband & Telephone Services (Fixed line, Internet Connectivity(DSL) and Leased Line), Long Distance Services and Enterprise Services (Telecommunications Consulting for corporates). It has presence in all 23 circles of the country and covers 71% of the current populati on (as of FY07).

Leading international telecommunication companies such as Vodafone and SingTel h eld partial stakes in Bharti Airtel. In April 2006 Bharti Global Limited was awarded a telecommunications licence in Jersey in the Channel Islands by the local telecommunications regulator the JCRA. In Septe mber 2006 the Office of Utility Regulation in Guernsey awarded Guernsey Airtel with a m obile telecommunications licence. In May 2007 Jersey Airtel and Guernsey Airtel announ ced the launch of a relationship with Vodafone for Island mobile subscribers. In July 2007 , Bharti Airtel signed an MoU with Nokia-Siemens for a 900 million dollar expansion of it s mobile and fixed network. In August 2007, the company announced it will be launching a cust omized version of Google search engine that will provide an 'array of services' to its br oadband customers. In March 2008, Bharti Airtel will roll out third generation services in Sri Lank a in association with Singtel. This is because Singapore-based Asian telecom major Singtel, which o wns a little over 30% in Bharti Airtel, is a major player in the 3G space as it has al ready third generation networks in several markets across Asia SUBSCRIBER BASE: The Airtel subscriber base according to COAI -Cellular Operator Association of I ndia as of May 2008 [7] was: Delhi - 4,055,704 Mumbai - 2,468,016 Chennai - 1,823,532 Kolkata - 1,852,838 Maharashtra & Goa - 4,345,945 Gujarat - 3,004,824 Andhra Pradesh - 6,516,332 Karnataka - 7,316,500 Tamil Nadu - 4,218,705 Kerala - 1,703,298 Punjab - 3,239,200 Haryana - 1,067,990 Uttar Pradesh (West) - 1,624,001 Uttar Pradesh (East) - 3,897,278 Rajasthan - 4,242,006 Madhya Pradesh - 3,084,776

 West Bengal & Andaman and Nicobar - 2,106,163 Himachal Pradesh - 809,829 Bihar - 4,912,900 Orissa - 1,911,070 Assam - 939,746 North Eastern States - 585,213 Jammu & Kashmir - 1,100,069 The total is 67,425,935 or 32.81% of the total 205,460,762 GSM mobile connection s in India till May 2008 VODAFONE ESSAR Vodafone Essar, previously Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in India that covers 16 telecom circles in India Despite the official name being Vodafone Essar, its pro ducts are simply branded Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverag e throughout India and is especially strong in the major metros. Vodafone Essar provides 2G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM te chnology, offering voice and data services in 16 of the country's 23 licence areas. Vodafone Essar, previously Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in India that covers 16 telecom circles in India . Despite the official name being Vodafone Essar, its p roducts are simply branded Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverag e throughout India and is especially strong in the major metros. Vodafone Essar provides 2G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM te chnology, offering voice and data services in 16 of the country's 23 licence areas. OWNERSHIP: Vodafone Essar is owned by Vodafone 52%, Essar Group 33%, and other Indian natio nals, 15%.

On February 11, 2007, Vodafone agreed to acquire the controlling interest of 67% held by Li Ka Shing Holdings in Hutch-Essar for US$11.1 billion, pipping Reliance Communicatio ns, Hinduja Group, and Essar Group, which is the owner of the remaining 33%. The whole compa ny was valued at USD 18.8 billion . The transaction closed on May 8, 2007. PREVIOUS BRANDS: In December 2006, Hutch Essar re-launched the "Hutch" brand nationwide, consolid ating its services under a single identity. The Company entered into agreement with NTT Do CoMo to launch i-mode mobile Internet service in India during 2007. The company used to be named Hutchison Essar, reflecting the name of its previou s owner, Hutchison. However, the brand was marketed as Hutch. After getting the necessary government approvals with regards to the acquisition of a majority by the Vodafone Group, t he company was rebranded as Vodafone Essar. The marketing brand was officially changed to Vodaf one on 20 September 2007. On September 20, 2007 Hutch becomes Vodafone in one of the biggest brand transit ion exercises in recent times. Vodafone Essar is spending somewhere in the region of Rs 250 crores on this high -profile transition being unveiled today. Along with the transition, cheap cell phones ha ve been launched in the Indian market under the Vodafone brand. There are plans to launch co-bran ded handsets sourced from global vendors as well. A popular daily quoted a Vodafone Essar director as saying that "the objective i s to leverage Vodafone Group's global scale in bringing millions of low-cost handsets from acr oss-the-world into India." While there is no revealing the prices of the low-cost Vodafone handsets, the in dustry is abuzz that prices might start at Rs 666, undercutting Reliance Communications' much-hy ped 'Rang Barse' with cheap handsets beginning at Rs 777. Meanwhile, Vodafone Essar sources said there would be no discounts or subsidized handset offers -- rather handset-bundled schemes for customers. Incidentally, China's ZTE, which is looking to set-up a manufacturing unit in th e country, is expected to provide several Vodafone handsets in India. Earlier this year, Vodaf one penned a global low-cost handset procurement deal with ZTE.

APPLE I PHONE 3G: Vodafone has successfully launched the Apple iPhone 3G in India. It has been mad e available to its consumers from the 22nd of August. The phone's launch saw a big celebrati on at select Vodafone stores and Vodafone sponsored malls across the country.

GROWTH OF HUTCHISON ESSAR (1992-2005): In 1992 Hutchison Whampoa and its Indian business partner established a company that in 1994 was awarded a licence to provide mobile telecommunications services in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and launched commercial service as Hutchison Max in November 1995. Analjit Singh of Max still holds 12% in company. By the time of Hutchison Telecom's Initial Public Offering in 2004, Hutchison Wh ampoa had acquired interests in six mobile telecommunications operators providing serv ice in 13 of India's 23 licence areas and following the completion of the acquisition of B PL that number increased to 16. In 2006, it announced the acquisition of a company that held licence applications for the seven remaining licence areas. In a country growing as fast as India, a strategic and well managed business pla n is critical to success. Initially, the company grew its business in the largest wir eless markets in India - in cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. In these densely populated urban areas it was able to establish a robust network, well known brand and large dist ribution network -all vital to long-term success in India. Then it also targeted business users and high-end post-paid customers which helped Hutchison Essar to consistently genera te a higher Average Revenue Per User ("ARPU") than its competitors. By adopting this focused growth plan, it was able to establish leading positions in India's large st markets providing the resources to expand its footprint nationwide. In February 2007, Hutchison Telecom announced that it had entered into a binding agreement with a subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc to sell its 67% direct and ind irect equity and loan interests in Hutchison Essar Limited for a total cash considerat ion (before costs, expenses and interests) of approximately US$11.1 billion or HK$87 billion . 1992: Hutchison Whampoa and Max Group established Hutchison Max 2000: Acquisition of Delhi operations Entered Calcutta and Gujarat markets throu gh ESSAR acquisition 2001: Won auction for licences to operate GSM services in Karnataka, Andhra Prad esh and Chennai 2003: Acquired AirCel Digilink (ADIL - Essar Subsidiary) which operated in Rajas tan, Uttar Pradesh East and Haryana telecom circles and renamed it under Hutch brand 2004: Launched in three additional telecom circles of India namely 'Punjab', 'Ut

tar Pradesh West' and 'West Bengal' 2005: Acquired BPL, another mobile service provider in India 2008: Vodafone acquired Dishnet Wireless, a service provider in Orissa and has successfully launched its services in the following circle.

2008: Vodafone launched the Apple iPhone 3G to be used on its 17 circle 2G netwo rk. Hutch was often praised for its award winning advertisements which all follow a clean, minimalist look. A recurrent theme is that its message Hello stands out visibly though it uses only white letters on red background. Another recent successful ad campaign in 2003 featured a pug named Cheeka following a boy around in unlikely places, with the tagline, Wherever you go, our network follows. The simple yet powerful advertise ment campaigns won it many admirers. SUBSCRIBER BASE: The Vodafone subscriber base according to COAI -Cellular Operator Association of India as of March 2008 was: Delhi - 3,216,769 Mumbai - 3,451,567 Chennai - 1,174,589 Kolkata - 1,974,177 Maharashtra & Goa - 2,610,389 Gujarat - 6,010,594 Andhra Pradesh - 2,601,458 Karnataka - 2,850,346 Tamil Nadu - 3,180,820 Kerala - 2,001,133 Orissa - 520772 Punjab - 1,645,501 Haryana - 1,282,208 Uttar Pradesh (West) -2,858,429 Uttar Pradesh (East) -3,508,355 Rajasthan - 2,934,598 West Bengal & Andaman and Nicobar - 2,825,310

The total is 44,126,243 or 22.93% of the total 192,355,939 GSM mobile connection s in India till March 2008. VODAFONE IN EUROPE

Majority-owned Minority-owned No Ownership France Austria Belgium Albania PolandCzech Republic Bulgaria Channel Islands Germany Croatia Cyprus Greece Denmark Estonia Hungary Finland Faroe Islands Ireland Iceland Latvia Italy Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Macedonia Norway Netherlands Serbia Slovenia Northern Cyprus Sweden Switzerland Portugal Romania History:

In 1982 Racal Electronics plc's subsidiary Racal Strategic Radio Ltd. won one of two UK cellular telephone network licences. The network, known as Racal Vodafone was 80 % owned by Racal, with Millicom and the Hambros Technology Trust owning 15% and 5% respectively. Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985. Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal Telecommunications Group Limited in 1985.On 29 December 1986 Racal Electronics bought out the minority shareholders of Vodafone for GB110 million. In September 1988 the company was again renamed Racal Telecom and on 26 October 1988 Racal Electronics floated 20% of the company. The flotation valued Racal Te lecom at GB1.7 billion. On 16 September 1991 Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal Electronics as Vodafone Group. In July 1996 Vodafone acquired the two thirds of Talkland it did not already own for 30.6 million. On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone purchased People s Phone for 77 million, a 181 store chain whose customers were overwhelmingly using Vodafone's network. In a similar move the company acquired the 80% of Astec Communications that it did not own, a service provider with 21 stores. In 1997 Vodafone introduced its Speechmark logo, as it is a quotation mark in a circle; the O's in the Vodafone logotype are opening and closing quotation marks, sugges ting conversation. On 29 June 1999 Vodafone completed its purchase of AirTouch Communications, Inc. and changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch plc. Trading of the new company commenced on 30 June 1999. To approve the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in EPlus Mobilfunk. The acquisition gave Vodafone a 35% share of Mannesmann, owner o f the largest German mobile network. vodafone's original logo used until the introduction of the speechmark logo in 1 998. On 21 September 1999 Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with thos e of Bell Atlantic Corp to form Verizon Wireless. The merger was completed on 4 April 2000. In November 1999 Vodafone made an unsolicited bid for Mannesmann, which was rejected. Vodafone's interest in Mannesmann had been increased by the latter's p urchase of Orange, the UK mobile operator.Chris Gent would later say Mannesmann's move i nto the UK broke a "gentleman's agreement" not to compete in each other's home terri tory. The hostile takeover provoked strong protest in Germany and a "titanic struggle" which

saw Mannesmann resist Vodafone's efforts. However, on 3 February 2000 the Mannesmann board agreed to an increased offer of 112bn, then the largest corporat e merger ever. The EU approved the merger in April 2000. The conglomerate was subsequently broken up and all manufacturing related operations sold off.

In 2001 the Company took over Eircell, then part of eircom in Ireland, and rebra nded it as Vodafone Ireland. It then went on to acquire Japan's third-largest mobile ope rator JPhone, which had introduced camera phones first in Japan. On 17 December 2001 Vodafone introduced the concept of "Partner Networks" by signing TDC Mobil of Denmark. The new concept involved the introduction of Vodaf one international services to the local market, without the need of investment by Vo dafone. The concept would be used to extend the Vodafone brand and services into markets where it does not have stakes in local operators. Vodafone services would be mar keted under the dual-brand scheme, where the Vodafone brand is added at the end of the local brand. (i.e., TDC Mobil-Vodafone etc.) In February 2002 Finland was added into the mobile community, as Radiolinja is s igned as a Partner Network. Radiolinja later changed its named to Elisa. Later that ye ar the Company rebranded Japan's J-sky mobile internet service as Vodafone live! and on 3 December 2002 the Vodafone brand was introduced in the Estonian market with sign ing of a Partner Network Agreement with Radiolinja (Eesti). Radiolinja (Eesti) later changed its name to Elisa. On 7 January 2003 the Company signed a group-wide Partner agreement with mobilko m Austria. As a result, Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia were added to the community . In April 2003 Og Vodafone was introduced in the Icelandic market and in May 2003 Vodafone Italy (Omnitel Pronto-Italia) was rebranded Vodafone Italy. On 21 July 2003 Lithuania was added to the community, with the signing of a Partner Network agre ement with Bite. In February 2004 Vodafone signed a Partner Network Agreement with Luxembourg's LuxGSM and a Partner Network Agreement with Cyta of Cyprus. Cyta agreed to renam e its mobile phone operations to Cytamobile-Vodafone. In April 2004 the Company purchased Singlepoint airtime provider from John Caudwell (Caudwell Group) and approx 1.5million customers onto its base for 405million, adding sites in Stoke o n Trent (England) to existing sites in Newbury (HQ), Birmingham, Warrington and Banbury. In November 2004 Vodafone introduced 3G services into Europe. In June 2005 the Company increased its participation in Romania's Connex to 99% and also bought the Czech mobile operator Oskar. On 1 July 2005 Oskar of the Czech Republic was rebranded as Oskar-Vodafone. Later that year on 17 October 2005 Vodafone Portugal launched a revised logo, using new text designed by Dalton Maa g,

and a 3D version of the Speechmark logo, but still retaining a red background an d white writing (or vice versa). Also, various operating companies started to drop the u se of the SIM card pattern in the company logo. (The rebranding of Oskar-Vodafone and Conn exVodafone also does not use the SIM card pattern.) A custom typeface by Dalton Ma ag (based on their font family InterFace) formed part of the new identity. On 28 October 2005 Connex in Romania was rebranded as Connex-Vodafone and on 31 October 2005 the Company reached an agreement to sell Vodafone Sweden to Telenor for

approximately 1 billion. After the sale, Vodafone Sweden became a Partner Network . In December 2005 Vodafone won an auction to buy Turkey's second-largest mobile phon e company, Telsim, for $4.5 billion. In December 2005 Vodafone Spain became the se cond member of the group to adopt the revised logo: it was phased in over the followi ng six months in other countries. In 2006 the Company rebranded its Stoke-on-Trent site as Stoke Premier Centre, a centre of expertise for the company dealing with Customer Care for its higher value cus tomers, technical support, sales and credit control. All cancellations and upgrades star ted to be dealt with by this call centre. On 5 January 2006 Vodafone announced the complet ion of the sale of Vodafone Sweden to Telenor. On February 2006 the Company closed its Birmingham Call Centre. In 1 February 2006 Oskar Vodafone became Vodafone Czech Republic, adopting the revised logo and on 22 February 2006 the Company announce d that it was extending its footprint to Bulgaria with the signing of Partner Netw ork Agreement with Mobiltel, which is part of mobilkom Austria group. On 12 March 2006 former chief, Sir Christopher Gent, who was appointed the honor ary post Chairman for Life in 2003, quits following rumours of boardroom rifts. In A pril 2006 the Company announced that it has signed an extension to its Partner Networ k Agreement with BITE Group, enabling its Latvian subsidiary "BITE Latvija" to bec ome the latest member of Vodafone's global partner community. Also in April 2006 Vod afone Sweden changed its name to Telenor Sverige AB and Connex-Vodafone became Vodafone Romania, also adopting the new logo. On 30 May 2006 Vodafone announced the biggest loss in British corporate history (14.9 billion) and plans to cut 400 jobs; it reported one-off costs of 23.5 billion due to the revaluation of its Mannesmann subsidiary. On 24 July 2006 the respected head of Vodafone Europe, Bill Morrow, quit unexpectedl and on 25 August 2006 the Company announced the sale of its 25% stak e in Belgium's Proximus for 2 billion. After the deal, Proximus was still part of the community as a Partner Network. On 5 October 2006 Vodafone announced the first single brand partnership with Og Vodafone which would operate under the name Vodafone Iceland and on 19 December 2006 the Company announced the sale of its 2 5% stake in Switzerland's Swisscom for CHF4.25 billion (1.8 billion). After the deal , Swisscom would still be part of the community as a Partner Network. Finally in December 2006 the Company completed the acquisition of Aspective, an enterprise applications systems integrator in the UK, signaling Vodafone's intent to grow a significant presence and revenues in the ICT marketplace.

Early in January 2007 Telsim in Turkey adopted Vodafone dual branding as Telsim Vodafone and on 1 April 2007 Telsim Vodafone Turkey dropped its original brand a nd became Vodafone Turkey. On 1 May 2007 Vodafone added Jersey and Guernsey to the community, as Airtel was signed as Partner Network in both crown dependencies. I n June 2007 the Vodafone live! mobile Internet portal in the UK was relaunched. Front p age was now charged for and previously "bundled" data allowance was removed from existin g contract terms. All users were given access to the "full" web rather than a Wall ed Garden and Vodafone became the first mobile network to focus an entire media campaign o n its newly launched mobile Internet portal in the UK. On 1 August 2007 Vodafone Portu gal

launched Vodafone Messenger, a service with Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger. On 17 April 2008 Vodafone extended its footprint to Serbia as Vip mobile was add ed to the community as a Partner Network and on 20 May 2008 the Company added VIP Operator as a Partner Network thereby extending the global footprint to Macedoni a. In May 2008 Kall of the Faroe Islands rebranded as Vodafone Faroe Islands. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE To know relative customer response towards ADVERTISEMENT by Air Tel and Vodafone in the telecom sector.

OBJECTIVE: 1. How people of different age group respond to ADVERTISEMENT. 2. Positioning strategies use by telecom companies and their impact on customer. 3. To find out relative customer perception. 4. To find out which telecom company have good advertising and what type of advertising subscriber like. 5. Role of advertisements on the buying behavior of the customer. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research methodology that I undertook for the purpose of this study is enume rated belowPRIMARY RESEARCH:

This consisted questionnaire and interaction from various people. A focus group study will be conducted to design the customer survey questionnaire with a sample size of 50 respondents. The survey was conducted in Ludhiana, Punjab. SECONDARY RESEARCH: Sources of secondary data were primarily the Internet , journals , newspaper, an nual report, database available in the library, catalogues and presentations. RESEARCH DESIGN: DESCRIPTIVE Descriptive studies are well structured, they tend to be rigid and its approach can not be changed every now and then. Descriptive study can be divided in two categories: (A) Cross sectional (B) Longitudinal Descriptive study are undertaken in many circumstances: 1. when the researcher is interested in knowing the characteristics of certain grou ps such as age , profession. 2. when the researcher is interested in knowing the proportion of people in given population who have behaved in a particular manner, making projection of certain things. The objective of this kind of study is to answer the why, who, ,what ,when and h ow of the subject under consideration. I will be taking descriptive because my research includes the knowing the behavior of customer towards advertisement. I will be working on to know how people of various age group respond to different advertis ing or there perception towards advertisement. Also my survey is related to two compani es Air Tel and Vodafone. TYPES OF QUESTIONS: OPEN ENDED:

They give the respondents complete freedom to decide the form , length and detai l of the answer. Open questions are preferred when the researchers is interested in knowi ng what is upper most in the mind of respondents. DICHOTOMOUS: This type of questions have only two type of answer, yes or no. true or false et c. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS: In the case of multiple choice question the respondents is offered two or more c hoices. The researcher exhausts all the possible choices and the respondent has to indic ate which one is applicable in this case. DATA

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

After the data collection, it was compiled, classified and tabulated manually an d with help of computer. Then the task of drawing inferences was accomplished with the help of percentage and graphic method. Different suggestions given by me to the Company after analyzing the views of every respondent are also given in the report. Keeping in mind the objectives of the study, the survey was being done and following interpretation was being drawn. DEMOGARPHIC FEATURES OF REPONDENTS 1. Sex ratio of the respondents S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE A MALE 39 78% B FEMALE 11 22% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% male female INTERPRETATION: The graphical representation of the table shows that out of 50 respondents 39 were male and 11 were female. AGE GROUP OF RESPONDENTS

S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE A 15-25 21 42% B 25-35 18 36% C 35-45 6 12% D 45 above 5 10% 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 15-25 25-35 35-45 45 above %age INTERPRETATION: The graphical representation of the table shows that out of tota l respondents 42% were of age 15-25, 36% 25-35, 12% 35-45, and rest were above 45. 3. LITERACY RATE AMONG THE RESPONDENTS

S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE A MATRICULATE 8 16 B INTERMEDIATE 17 34 C GRADUATION 19 38 D POST-GRADUATION 6 12 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 matric intermediate graduate P.G %age INTERPRETATION: The graphical representation of the table shows that out of tota l respondents 8 were matriculate,17 were intermediate,19graduateand rest 6 were postgraduate. 4.Who is your current service provider? S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE A AIRTEL 14 28

B VODAFONE 25 50 C OTHERS 11 22 B VODAFONE 25 50 C OTHERS 11 22 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 AIRTEL VODAFONE OTHERS %AGE INTERPRETATION The 14 person were used Air Tel and 25 person were used vodaphone and 11 were used other. 5. For how long you are using this mobile connection? AIRTEL S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE

A B C Less than 6 months 6 to 12 monthsAbove 12 months2 3 9 14% 21% 65% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% less than 6 12-Jun above 12 Interpretation Two person were used since six month and three were used since twelve months and nine were used since two year. VODAFONE S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE

A Less than 6 months 1 4% B 6 to 12 months 3 12% C Above 12 months 21 84% 0 20 40 60 80 100 less than 6 12-Jun above 12 %age INTERPRETATION The one person were used since six months and three were used since one year and twenty were used since two year OTHERS

S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE A Less than 6 months 1 9% B 6 to 12 months 2 18% C Above 12 months 8 73% 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 less than 6 12-Jun above 12 %age INTERPRETATION The one person were used since six months and two were used since one year and eight were used since two year. What were the reason for choosing this mobile connection?

AIRTEL S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE A Recommended by friends and relative 5 36% B Recommended by retailer 2 14% C Brand image 1 7% D Advertisement 6 43% 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 by frnd&rltv by retailer brand image advertise %age INTREPRETATION Fife were recommended by friends and relative and two were by retailor and one were by brand image and six were by advertisement. VODAFONE S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE A Recommended by friends and relative 6 24%

B Recommended by retailer 2 8% C Brand image 7 28% D Advertisement 10 40% 0 10 20 30 40 50 by frnd &rltv by rtlr brnd img advrtisemnt INTREPRETATION Six were recommended by friends and relative and two were by retailor and seven were by brand image and ten were by advertisement. OTHERS S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE A Recommended by friends and relative 2 18

B Recommended by retailer 2 18 C Brand image 6 55 D Advertisement 1 9 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 by frnd rltv by rtlr brand img advertisement %age INTREPRETATION Two were recommended by friends and relative and two were by retailor and six were by brand image and one were by advertisement. 6. While purchasing a connection does advertisement plays any role?

S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE A Yes 42 84% B No 8 16% 0 20 40 60 80 100 yes no Column 3 %age Interpretation The fourty two preson were say yes and eight were says no. 7. from where you watch the advertisement most?

S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE A Television 31 62% B Radio 0 0% C Newspaper 11 22% D Magazines 8 16% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Television Radio Newspaper magazines %age Interpretation The mostly people sees advertisement in the television. 8. Which telecommunication have good advertisements?

S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE A Air Tel 21 42 B Vodafone 24 48 C Any other 5 10 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 AIRTEL VODAFONE ANYOTHER %AGE Interpretation The mostly Vodafone have good advertisement. 9. How well advertisements of the Air Tel catch your attention?

S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE A Very well 22 44 B Somewhat well 12 24 C Undecided 6 12 D Not at all 10 20 0 10 20 30 40 50 very well somewhat well undecided not at all %age Interpretation The 22 person says very well and 12 person says some what well and 6 were undecided and 10 were says no. 10. How well did the advertisement of Vodafone catch your attention? S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE

A Very well 26 52 B Somewhat well 10 20 C Undecided 6 12 D Not at all 8 16 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 very well somewhatwll undecided not at all Interpretation The 26 person says very well and 10 person says some what well and 6 were undecided and 8 were says no. 11. Do you think that advertisement made by company informs you about there new products? S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE A YES 34 68

B NO 12 24 C UNDECIDED 4 8 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 %AGE Interpretation YES NO UNDECIDED The 34 person says yes and 12 person says no and 4 person were no response. 12. Based on advertisements made by company, would you like to go for more connection for you or your family in future? S.NO. PARTICULARS NUMBER %AGE A YES 38 76

B NO 7 14 C UNDECIDED 5 10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 yes no undecided Interpretation The 38 person says yes and 7 person says no and 5 person were no response. FINDINGS 1. Maximum respondents were using mobile phones for more than one year. 2. People like to watch advertisement on television mostly. 3. Respondents like to purchase new mobile connection based on advertisements and schemes.

4. Maximum respondents were in favor of that, Vodafone s advertising is better than other companies. 5. Maximum number of respondents were in favor of that, they would like to purchase more connection of the company with good advertisement policy. REFRENCES www.bhartiteleventures.com www.vodafone.co.in www.google.com 47

QUESTIONNAIRE Dear Sir/Madam I am the student of MBA-3rd Semester at RIMT-IMCT, Mandi Gobindgarh doing a project TO KNOW THE CUSTOMER RESPONCE TOWARDS ADVERTISING BY

AIRTEL AND VODAFONE IN THE TELECOM SECTOR questionnaire.

Please co-operate to fill this

1. Name _________________________________________ 2. Sex: (a) Male (b) Female 3. Age: (a) 15-25 (b) 25-35 (c) 35-45 (d) Above 45 4. Education: (a) Matriculate (b) Intermediate (C) Graduation (d) Postgraduate 5. Who is your current service provider? a) Airtel b) Vodafone c) Any other 6) For how long you are using this mobile connection? a) less than 6 months. b) 6 to 12 months. c) Above 12 months. 7. a) b) c) d) what were the reasons for choosing this mobile connection? Recommended by friends or relatives. Recommended by retailers. Brand image Advertisement

8. While purchasing a connection advertising plays any role? a) Yes b) No 9. From where you watch the advertisement most?

a) b) c) d)

Television Radio Newspaper Magazines

10. Which telecommunication have good advertising? a) Air Tel b) Vodafone c) Any other 11. How well did advertisement of the AirTel catch your attention? a) Very well b) Somewhat well c) Undecided d) Not at all. 12.How well did the advertisement of the Vodafone catch your attention? a) Very well b) somewhat well c) undecided d) Not at all 13. Do you think that advertisement made by company informs you about there prod ucts? .a) Yes b) No c) Undecided 14) Based on advertisements made by company , would you like to go for more connection for you or your family in future? a) Yes. b) No. c) Not decided. Address __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ Phone no. _________________________________ Thanks for your valuable time and co-operation

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