The Hindu Business Line : Hello and hard sell

If everyone is selling basically the same thing, how do you convince consumers to buy your product? Through some smart marketing, naturally, and none comes smarter than the marketing of India’s mobile phone services. The advertising campaigns h ave evoked many emotions that have run the gamut from admiration to disgust.

Vodafone’s (previously Hutch) ‘Zoozoo’ campaign during the IPL 2009 season has made even the worst curmudgeon smile. Earlier, it was the pug that captured the viewer’s imagination. With such ads Vodafone has managed to become popular regardless of its services or quality.

“The idea is to be consistent yet not constant,” says Harit Nagpal, Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone. “We want to be endearing, likeable and speaking the customer’s language.” He added that it is very easy to fall into the technology trap, which the company tries to avoid.

Vodafone’s ads may have raised the bar for telecom advertising but close on its heels is Idea Cellular. Roping in Abhishek Bachchan as the brand ambassador has given Idea’s ads some much needed zing. The ‘Democracy’ campaign, developed by Lowe, launched at the fag end of last year, was a humorous take on gathering public opinion. In fact, before Vodafone flooded our television sets with Zoozoos, it was Idea’s campaigns with Abhishek Bachchan that had viewers saying ‘What an Idea, Sirji!’

“The challenge was to break out of the commoditised environment and resonate with a diverse audience,” says Pradeep Shrivastava, Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular. He adds, “The campaigns, based on the themes of ‘caste war’, ‘education for all’ and ‘democracy’ have social relevance and importantly explore the power of category.”

Aircel, which till late had confined itself to the Southern states, needed an ingenious marketing campaign when it entered the North. With Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian cricket captain, as its brand ambassador, the company made an aggressive opening. The ads have been short, simple and to the point, much like how Dhoni goes about his game. The ads focus on value-added services, something which young consumers are looking for.

“Our marketing strategy aims to bring to the forefront the multi-functionality of the phone,” says Rahul Saighal, Chief Marketing Officer, Aircel. Shalini Sethi, Head (Corporate Communications), Aircel, says, “Our key strategy has been to focus on value-added services.” She adds that Aircel is targeting customers right from the common man to the CEOs and that’s why the company’s focus on cricket becomes important.

Tata Indicom’s ads show the ill effects of a bad network and call drops. Getting into the habit of saying ‘hello’ constantly as a result of bad network may be extreme, but is humorous nonetheless. Lloyd Mathias, Chief Marketing Officer, Tata Teleservices, who mentioned that the group was soon planning to launch its GSM services, says, “Our strategy is to come through as a relevant and salient brand. The aim is to reflect the image of integrity the Tata group has built itself on. The consumer is thus assured of the highest reliability and trust.”

Being one of the earliest entrants in the arena, Airtel has managed to stay on top of the game for a long time. Over the years Airtel has tried to put human emotions at the forefront through their ads. While one might argue that the Vidya Balan-Madhavan ad campaign during the recent IPL 2009 was not as popular amongst the youth, the company has its advertising strategy well devised. Chandrashekar Radhakrishna, Head (Brands & Media), says that the audience was segmented in order to target them in a certain way. It has also not compromised on the portrayal of its brand. “Our brand is about human emotions and relationship. Our quest is always to bring people together,” Radhakrishna says. While Airtel’s last campaign might have become a bit too stale for the public, the company’s success shows it is doing something right.

Meanwhile, players such as Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) and Sistema Shyam Teleservices’ MobileTeleSystems (MTS) believe that the good old print medium is good enough for their needs. R. S. P. Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director, MTNL says, “We are not very aggressive in TV advertising because we are only present in two circles – Delhi and Mumbai. TV is a national medium and is expensive. Hence, we prefer print.” According to Sinha, MTNL had 5 per cent of the market share in 2003-04, which has since grown to 16 per cent.

India recently became the second largest wireless network in the world after China, overtaking the US after adding about eight million subscribers every month, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s Annual Report, 2008. As new players enter the market, the competition to sell what is basically the same becomes extremely cut-throat. While brands’ visibility and popularity may vary as one advertising campaign or the other grips the imagination, they cannot sit pretty on their success in such a market.

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