A

Project Report

On

“Sales and Promotion of Virgin Mobile in Mobile Store

Allahabad”

Master of Business Administration (Marketing)

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for award

of Master of Business Administration of Tilak Maharashtra

University, Pune

Submitted by

Kumar Paramtap

PRN:072080166

of

Institute of Business Studies & Research, Pune

Tilak Maharastra University

Gultekdi, Pune 411037

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2
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Acknowledgement

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My Special Thanks and gratitude to Mr. Vinay Kumar Singh(S.M), of Virgin Mobile
for his generosity, cooperation and superb guidance that helped me in completion of my
project report.

I am also thankful to Mr.Inderpal Singh, (Director) IBSAR, PUNE and to my Internal

Gudie, Mr. Sumit Roy, for their encouragement and motivation which was a great
source of inspiration.

I am extremely grateful to Mr.Dhermendra (Operation. Manager) and the entire staff

of Mobile Store for their cooperation and generosity. Their experience helped me a lot
in doing my project.

Kumar Paramtap

MBA III (Marketing)

IBSAR

TABLE OF CONTENT

SERIAL No. TITLE PAGE No.

CHAPTER-1

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1.1 RATIONAL STUDY 2
CHAPTER-2
2.1 PROJECT TITLE 4
2.2 OBJECTIVE OF STUDY 4
2.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 4
CHAPTER-3
3 PROFILE OF THE 5-17
COMPANY
CHAPTER-4
4. REVIEW OF 18-24
LITERATURE
CHAPTER-5
5. RESEARCH 25-31
METHODOLOGY
CHAPTER-6
6. DATA ANALYSIS & 32-41
INTERPRETATION
CHAPTER-7
7. FINDINGS 43
CHAPTER-8
8. LIMITATIONS 45
CHAPTER-9
9. CONCLUSION& 47
RECOMMENDATIONS
10 APPENDIX 48-50
11 BIBLIOGRAPHY 52

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 6.1 PROXIMITY OF SERVICES CENTER 36

TABLE 6.2 USER FRIENDLINESS OF DELIVERY POINT 37

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TABLE 6.3 SERVICE TIME 38
TABLE 6.4 AVAILABILITY OF CUSTOMER CARE 39
TABLE 6.5 QUALITY OF SERVICE BY CUSTOMER CARE 40

TABLE 6.6 NETWORK QUALITY 41

TABLE 6.7 OVERALL SATISFACTION LEVEL 42

LIST OF FIGURES

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FIGURE NO 6.1 PROXIMITY OF SERVICES CENTER 36

FIGURE NO 6.2 USER FRIENDLINESS OF DELIVERY POINT 37

FIGURE NO 6.3 SERVICE TIME 38

FIGURE NO 6.4 AVAILABILITY OF CUSTOMER CARE 39
FIGURE NO 6.5 QUALITY OF SERVICE BY CUSTOMER CARE 40

FIGURE NO 6.6 NETWORK QUALITY 41

FIGURE NO 6.7 OVERALL SATISFACTION LEVEL 42

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CHAPTER -1

Rationale for the Study

In today’s intensely competitive, rapidly changing and highly complex environment characterize
by diminishing customer loyalty, the need to be market –focused and customer centric is more
critical than any other time in past. It is highly imperative for every organization to retain and use
valuable information about their customer to enhance their business strategies and product and
service offerings. Today, the key focus area of much organization is identification of a link

10
between customer satisfaction and performance. However, satisfaction as the confirmation of
expectation has started to be conceptualizing almost as a threshold for customers. The delivery of
satisfaction is the minimum the customer expects.

This project is totally focusing on the consumer preferences towards different sales
promotion techniques means which sales promotion technique is mostly preferred by the
customer in the city of Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh). As the sales promotion techniques are used for
the marketing of the product so the research has done in the area of marketing. Today every firm
is facing the situation of cut throat competition. So it becomes very important for every firm to
promote its product otherwise it cannot survive in the market. These techniques are used in the
marketing of product in the last stage which is called retailing. It is the stage from which the
product directly goes in the hand of customer and today India is standing on the threshold of
retail revolution and witnessing a great change in its retail landscape i.e. from unorganized
retailing to organized retailing. Retail is growing with an annual rate of 40%. Its contribution
towards GDP is 11% and towards employment is 8%. So after agriculture retailing is one of the
biggest sources of employment in the country and is one of the largest industries in India.
Although retail industry has existed in our country for centuries but it is only the recent past that
it is witnessing such a tremendous growth.

In Allahabad Mobile Store has created its image in a very short period Mobile store is best outlet
for Mobiles and its accessories. It is attracting the customers with its good services. Most of the
customer satisfied by Mobile store services and facilities.

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CHAPTER -2

Objective of the Study

Project Title:

“Sales and Promotion of Virgin Mobile in mobile Store in Allahabad”

Objective of project:

Primary objective:

 To study the customer awareness about Virgin Mobile in Mobile Store.

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  To enhance the sale of Virgin Mobile in Mobile Store.

 To know the reason for the loss of inventory.

Secondary objectives

 To analyze the customer buying behavior.

 To find out the satisfaction level of the Virgin mobile customers at Mobile Store.

 To study the effect of event and promotion.

 To make various suggestion on the improvement of Virgin Mobile in Mobile

Store.

Scopes:

 Study is restricted to various parts of Allahabad which include: LGF, Atlantis

Mall Allahabad Purana Katra.

 Time frame-there is limited time of two months June to August 2009.

 Analyze the consumer buying behavior at Mobile Store.

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CHAPTER -3

Profile of the Company

About The Mobile Store:

Mr. Rajiv Agarwal, CEO and Director, The

Mobile Store Limited, heads India's first
countrywide chain of telecom retail outlets.
"The Mobile Store" is an Essar Group
venture, set to introduce a pan-Indian
network of retail telecom outlets. The Mobile
Store offers a world class shopping
environment, with state of the art technology.

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The Mobile Store format is a one stop mobile solution shop that provides, multi brand
handsets, accessories, connections, repairs, VAS etc all under one roof.The Mobile
Store currently has more than 1050 outlets and the vision is to have a network of 2500
stores by 2010 across 650 cities, thus covering virtually every major town in every state
across India.

The Mobile Store outlets are in three formats: Large - 1000-1500 square feet, Medium-
800-1000 square feet and Corner-150-200 square feet, with smaller formats located
primarily in large malls.

Key thrust areas for the retail format are: Comprehensive Product Range,
Knowledgeable Store Staff & Interactive Environment, Competitive Prices and Handset
Repairs.

The Mobile Store caters to the Indian consumer's choice of the widest and most
comprehensive range of mobile phones with special offers from all the key brands
available across the globe. The Mobile Store offers complete telecom solutions right
from handset purchase to the choice of service operator and miscellaneous services like
monthly bill collections etc., the stores also offer connections (pre paid and post paid),
accessories and VAS including the latest ring tones, wallpapers and gaming and prompt
after sales service, available not only in the city of purchase but in all The MobileStore
outlets across the country.

The Mobile Store has undertaken an

extensive training program to equip all its
employees with in-depth knowledge of the
products and brands available at the store,
thereby allowing them to provide the right
kind of guidance to the customer.

The Mobile Store has categorized its mobile

device offerings into consumer segments
keeping in mind the profiles and needs of different consumers. The unique segments
available in The Mobile Store The Mobile Store are: Business - PDA & Smart phones,
Emails, data transfer etc., Lifestyle - Fashion phones, Look and elegance, Fun -

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Multimedia & music, camera, games, wacky ring tones and wallpapers, Value for
Money - Special offers, discounts and budget phones.

All major handset brands like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung, Motorola, Fly,
Sagem, HP, I Mate, Dopod, HTC and Blackberry are available at the store. The Mobile
Store has also tied up with all leading operators including Airtel, Vodafone, BPL, Idea,
MTNL/BSNL and Reliance, Tata Indicom.

All major handset brands like Nokia, Sony

Ericsson, LG, Samsung, Motorola, Fly,
Sagem, HP, I mate, Dopod, HTC and
Blackberry are available at the store. The
Mobile Store has also tied up with all leading
operators including Airtel, Vodafone, BPL,
Idea, MTNL/BSNL and Reliance,
TataIndicom.

INTRODUCTION-WHY VIRGIN MOBILE?

In Indian mobile market, Virgin mobile is a unique player based on its business model
and strategy. It is the only service provider which does not hold any bandwidth and
mobile setup infrastructure but uses Tata Teleservices spectrum and is penetrating
market totally on its branding and marketing strategy. Creating a niche brand and
promoting it to specific customer segment with proper marketing has been the key
success factor for virgin mobile across the globe. So, from marketing and customer
understanding point of view, this is a very unique company to study.

UNDERSTANDING VIRGIN’S BUSINESS MODEL:

Virgin has promoted itself as the brand for young India, keeping the Indian youth as its
target customer segment. The idea behind targeting this segment can be found inherited
in virgin’s business model. The different marketing perspectives are explained in fig 1.

The salient features of Virgin’s business model from customer perspective are:

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 1) With intensive competition and reducing voice tariffs, the profit margins for
voice service are decreasing day by day. So, the future profit strategy is
maximizing profit margins through data services and it is youth segment which
provides maximum data service revenues.

2) Future projection of increasing young and working population of India as 65% of

overall population by 2020.

3) Increased use of data services in future due to technological advancements.

So, in mobile sector where all other players are trying to provide similar service to different
customer segments, virgin is targeting specific segment with tailor made plans keeping its long
term goals in mind.

NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

Tata Teleservices Bluedart Online selling Retail Access

Samsung

PRODUCT VIRGIN
DESIGN MOBILE BRAND
COMMUNICATING VALUE
PROPOSITION

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Paid incoming calls 50 paisa STD Young & Vibrant website
Youth centric advertisements

VBYTES Value added services

Fig 1: Creating Virgin brand through various

market channels

COMMUNICATING THE VIRGIN BRAND:

Virgin mobile has communicated itself as the youth oriented brand of India through
various communication channels. They are:

a) “Think Hat ke” advertisement campaign targeting youth

b) Red and vibrant website look with youth focused language (Fig 2)

c) Tailor made plans for young segment

d) Getting paid for incoming calls: a source of recharge option for youth

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 Fig 2. Virgin Mobile website depicting youth flavor

TARGET MARKET:

The Virgin Mobile Brand, targets Indian youth aged between 14 and 25 years. There are
215 million people in this age group. Out of this, 70 million own a mobile phone and
this segment is expected to add another 50 million new subscribers in the next three
years. Though young subscribers constitute only 30 percent of the total mobile
subscribers, they contribute more than 50 percent of the revenues of telecom industry.
By 2010 this group is expected to contribute 60-70 percent of total revenues.

The distinct mobile phone usage habits of the young users provide a huge advantage to
Virgin Mobile. They make more and longer out-bound voice calls, which means huge
billing potential for service providers. The usage of SMS, data services in the form of

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mobile internet, mobile shopping and other value added services like ring tones, caller
tunes, wallpapers, etc are very high in this group which again provides a huge
opportunity to be tapped. Moreover young users have a short handset up gradation
cycle-under 12 months as compared to two years for people above 25 years of age.

CUSTOMER ACQUISITION AND RETENTION STRATEGIES:

The company knows that they are trying to position themselves into a very established
and competitive market. They understand the fact that they cannot start making profit
from day one neither they have plans for it; they anticipate to achieve a subscriber base
of 5 million in next three years and will make profit afterwards they will be able to
break even in three year or so.

According to the patron, Sir Richard “We want to deliver a more tailored and relevant
offering for a single segment.” Company targets only 10% of the above mentioned
segment and have plans to acquire and retain them by various innovative propositions,
some of them are-

1) Providing services which were not offered so far

a) Get paid for incoming calls.

b) 50 paisa for all calls across the country.

c) A brand truly meant for the young India which is reflected at each & every touch
point.

d) Extensive data service offers in the form of vbytes.

e) Excellent value added plans.

f) Go online facility for enquiry, purchasing phone, recharging and everything.

g) One touch VAS access from every virgin mobile.

2) Providing services which others are not providing meticulously

a) Easy to change the handset from a wide range of handset providing at very
reasonable prices.

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b) Boring customer care services telling you are in queue.

c) One customer care officer dedicated for all queries of one customer leading to
transparency.

d) No jammed or bad network coverage.

e) Tailor made customized plans without any hidden charges.

f) No monthly bills.

VALUE CREATION THROUGH PRODUCT DESIGN:

Various steps that Virgin is taking to add value to the customer are on price, quality,
technology and social front. Company is providing the best prices in whichever plan
you go, quality of signals is not only comparable but better than most of the service
providers, on technology front it is the first in India to go for one-touch VAS access
from every Virgin Mobile.

MARKETING MIX:

The marketing mix is the combination of marketing activities that an organisation in so

as to best meet the needs of its targeted market.

Product: Virgin Mobile offers six RUIM enabled handsets with colour screen, FM radio
and include one touch access for V bytes-Virgin Mobile’s VAS portal.

Price: The handsets are priced in the range of Rs2000-5000.The call tariff is very
nominal which is 50p per call both local and STD subject to terms and conditions.

Place: The focus of Virgin Mobile on customer acquisition has so far been in the top 60
cities of India and is set to extend to more cities. The product is available across a host
of modern retail outlets The Mobile Store, Hotspot, RPG Cellucom, Croma etc.

Promotion: Virgin Mobile entered the Indian market in grand style. The company
surprised the readers of a leading Indian daily when all the headlines on the front page
were in the colour red. Virgin Mobile has used a very vibrant colour to relate itself with

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the targeted market. Apart from traditional media, internet and outdoor youth centric
advertising has been used wisely to attract the targeted audience.

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL:
Virgin mobile makes its products available to the customer by both retail stores and
online distribution.

Selective Distribution:

Virgin mobile has selected some retail outlets to distribute its products. It does not
follow the strategy of intensive and exclusive distribution. The strategy of selective
distribution helps the company gain optimum market coverage and more control but at a
lesser cost than intensive distribution.

Virgin Mobile launched a new mobile handset v Billing on 7 July 2008. V Billing is
available across 15,000 outlets nationally and over 1000 modern retail outlets including
The Mobile Store, Univercell, Croma, Convergem, Big C, Vishal Mega Mart, Vijay
Sales and Sangeetha to name a few. Apart from this, the handset will also be available
in 34 kiosks in high traffic malls across the country.

Online Distribution:

Virgin Mobile India has announced that customers can now buy Virgin Mobile branded
products and services online. They just need to select the handset, plan and number of

their choice by filling an online form. Post the payment transaction, handsets will be
delivered to the customer within 24 - 48 hours and the requisite documents for proof of
identity will be collected in person. Customers taking advantage of online shopping will
also be offered additional talk time, extra messages as well as other freebies.

Disintermediation and re-aggregation: The different features of the online

distribution are stated as follows:

• Intermediary becomes redundant as customer buys directly from the firm using
web technology.

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 • Customization becomes easier and feasible which adds to the customer value.
• Re-aggregation occurs in the sense that companies today encourage customers to
lodge their complaints or send their queries on the net. These are then routed to
another site where they are dealt with immediately in a seamless manner. So it
helps in improving the
overall efficiency of the channel.

For the delivery of the ordered products Virgin Mobile has tied up with Blue Dart.

COMPETITION:

Virgin Mobile has entered into a very competitive industry where Airtel, Vodafone and
Reliance are the dominant players. Virgin Mobile faces stiff competition from Reliance
CDMA phones. Virgin Mobile have taken a ‘hatke’ route and launched the brand in the
youth segment. The tie up with Tata Teleservices enables it to fight competition as the
network quality of Tata Teleservices was ranked first by DOT. The company is
spending huge chunks of money to promote their VAS services and it would be
interesting to watch out what Virgin Mobile plans to offer.

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CHAPTER -4

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

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Marketing is a societal process which discerns consumers' wants, focusing on a
product or service to fulfil those wants, attempting to move the consumers toward the
products or services offered. Marketing is fundamental to any businesses growth. The
marketing teams (marketers) are tasked to create consumer awareness of the products or
services through marketing techniques. Unless it pays due attention to its products and
services and consumers' techniques. Unless it pays due attention to its products and
services and consumers'

techniques. Unless it pays due attention to its products and services and consumers'
techniques. Unless it pays due attention to its products and services and consumers'
selling . It is also concerned with anticipating the customers' future needs and wants,
which are often discovered through market research.

Essentially, marketing is the process of creating or directing an organization to be

successful in selling a product or service that people not only desire, but are willing to
buy.

Therefore good marketing must be able to create a "proposition" or set of benefits for
the end customer that delivers value through products or services.

A market-focused, or customer-focused, organization first determines what its potential

customers desire, and then builds the product or service. Marketing theory and practice
is justified in the belief that customers use a product or service because they have a
need, or because it provides a perceived benefit.

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Two major factors of marketing are the recruitment of new customers (acquisition) and
the retention and expansion of relationships with existing customers (base
management). Once a marketer has converted the prospective buyer, base management
marketing takes over. The process for base management shifts the marketer to building
a relationship, nurturing the links, enhancing the benefits that sold the buyer in the first
place, and improving the product/service continuously to protect the business from
competitive encroachments.

For a marketing plan to be successful, the mix of the four "Ps" must reflect the wants
and desires of the consumers or Shoppers in the target market. Trying to convince a
market segment to buy something they don't want is extremely expensive and seldom
successful. Marketers depend on insights from marketing research , both formal and
informal, to determine what consumers want and what they are willing to pay for.
Marketers hope that this process will give them a sustainable competitive advantage .
Marketing management is the practical application of this process. The offer is also an
important addition to the 4P's theory.

Within most organizations, the activities encompassed by the marketing function are led
by a Vice President or Director of Marketing. A growing number of organizations,
especially large US companies, have a Chief Marketing Officer position, reporting to
the Chief Executive Officer .

The American Marketing Association (AMA) states, "Marketing is an organizational

function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to
customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the
organization and its stakeholders.".[1]

Marketing methods are informed by many of the social sciences , particularly

psychology , sociology , and economics . Anthropology is also a small, but growing
influence. Market research underpins these activities. Through advertising , it is also
related to many of the creative arts. Marketing is a wide and heavily interconnected
subject with extensive publications. It is also an area of activity infamous for re-
inventing itself and its vocabulary according to the times and the culture.

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Two levels of marketing-

Strategic marketing attempts to determine how an organization competes against its

competitors in a market place. In particular, it aims at generating a competitive
advantage relative to its competitors.

Operational marketing executes marketing functions to attract and keep customers and
to maximize the value derived for them, as well as to satisfy the customer with prompt
services and meeting the customer expectations. Operational Marketing includes the
determination of the marketing mix (4 Ps).

Four Ps - In the early 1960's, Professor Neil Borden at Harvard Business

School identified a number of company performance actions that can
influence the consumer decision to purchase goods or services. Borden
suggested that all those actions of the company represented a “Marketing
Mix”. Professor E. Jerome McCarthy, also at the Harvard Business School in
the early 1960s, suggested that the Marketing Mix contained 4 elements:
product, price, place and promotion.

In popular usage, "marketing" is the promotion of products, especially advertising and

branding. However, in professional usage the term has a wider meaning which
recognizes that marketing is customer-centered. Products are often developed to meet
the desires of groups of customers or even, in some cases, for specific customers. E.
Jerome McCarthy divided marketing into four general sets of activities. His typology
has become so universally recognized that his four activity sets, the Four Ps, have
passed into the language.

The four Ps are:

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1. Product: The product aspects of marketing deal with the specifications of the
actual goods or services, and how it relates to the end-user's needs and wants. The scope
of a product generally includes supporting elements such as warranties, guarantees, and
support.

2.

3. Pricing: This refers to the process of setting a price for a product, including
discounts. The price need not be monetary - it can simply be what is exchanged for the
product or services, e.g. time, energy, psychology or attention.

4.

5. Promotion: This includes advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and personal

selling, branding and refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand, or
company.

6. Placement (or distribution): refers to how the product gets to the customer; for
example, point of sale placement or retailing. This fourth P has also sometimes been
called Place, referring to the channel by which a product or services is sold (e.g. online
vs. retail), which geographic region or industry, to which segment (young adults,
families, business people), etc.

These four elements are often referred to as the marketing mix, [1] which a marketer can
use to craft a marketing plan. The four Ps model is most useful when marketing low
value consumer products. Industrial products, services, high value consumer products
require adjustments to this model. Services marketing must account for the unique
nature of services. Industrial or B2B marketing must account for the long term
contractual agreements that are typical in supply chain transactions. Relationship
marketing attempts to do this by looking at marketing from a long term relationship
perspective rather than individual transactions.

As a counter to this, Morgan, in Riding the Waves of Change (Jossey-Bass, 1988),

suggests that one of the greatest limitations of the 4 Ps approach "is that it
unconsciously emphasizes the inside–out view (looking from the company outwards),
whereas the essence of marketing should be the outside–in approach". Nevertheless, the
4 Ps offer a memorable and workable guide to the major categories of marketing
activity, as well as a framework within which these can be used.
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Sales promotion-Promotion involves disseminating information about a product ,
product line , brand , or company. It is one of the four key aspects of the marketing mix .
Sales promotion is an important component of a company's marketing communication
strategy along with advertising, public relations, and personal selling. At its core,
sales promotion is a marketing activity that adds to the basic value proposition behind a
product (i.e., getting more for less) for a limited time in order to stimulate consumer
purchasing, selling effectiveness, or the effort of the sales force. As this definition
indicates, sales promotion may be directed either at end consumers or at selling
intermediaries such as retailers or sales crews.

Sales promotion stems from the premise that any brand or service has an established
perceived price or value, the "regular" price or some other reference value. Sales
promotion is believed to change this accepted price-value relationship by increasing the
value and/or lowering the price. Familiar examples of consumer sales promotion tools
include contests and sweepstakes, branded give-away merchandise, bonus-size
packaging, limited-time discounts, rebates, coupons, free trials, demonstrations, and
point-accumulation systems.

Three issues clarify sales promotion. First, sales promotion ranks in importance with
advertising and requires similar care in planning and strategy development. Second,
three audiences can be targeted by sales promotion: consumers, resellers, and the sales
force. And third, sales promotion as a competitive weapon provides an extra incentive
for the target audience to purchase or support one brand over another. This last factor
distinguishes sales promotion from other promotional mix tactics. For example,
unplanned purchases may be directly related to one or more sales promotion offers.

In order to understand the basic role and function of sales promotion, one must
differentiate between sales promotion and other components of the marketing mix. Sales
promotion usually operates on a short timeline, uses a more rational appeal, returns a
tangible or real value, fosters an immediate sale, and contributes highly to profitability.
The idea of contribution to profitability may be confusing. It is simply the ratio between
what is spent on a promotional mix compared to the direct profitability generated by

29
that expenditure. A few exceptions to the above characteristics do exist. For example, a
sweepstakes might use a very emotional appeal, while a business-to-business ad may be
very rational.

Promotion is generally sub-divided in the textbooks into two parts:

• Above the line promotion : Promotion in the media (e.g. TV , radio , newspapers ,
Internet ) in which the advertiser pays an advertising agency to place the ad

• Below the line promotion : All other promotion. Much of this is intended to be
subtle enough that the consumer is unaware that promotion is taking place. E.g.
sponsorship , product placement , endorsements, sales promotion , merchandising ,
direct mail , personal selling, public relations , trade shows

Marketing Communication-

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 Reaches large, geographically dispersed audiences, often with
high frequency; Low cost per exposure, though overall costs are high; Consumers
perceive advertised goods as more legitimate; Dramatizes company/brand; Builds brand
image; may stimulate short-term sales; Impersonal, one-way communication; Expensive
.

Most effective tool for building buyers’ preferences, convictions,

and actions; Personal interaction allows for feedback and adjustments; Relationship-
oriented; Buyers are more attentive; Sales force represents a long-term commitment;
Most expensive of the promotional tools

May be targeted at the trade or ultimate consumer; Makes use of

a variety of formats: premiums, coupons, contests, etc.; Attracts attention, offers strong
purchase incentives, dramatizes offers, boosts sagging sales; Stimulates quick response;
Short-lived; Not effective at building long-term brand preferences

Highly credible; Very believable; Many forms: news stories,

news features, events and sponsorships, etc.; Reaches many prospects missed via other
forms of promotion; Dramatizes company or product; Often the most under used
element in the promotional mix; Relatively inexpensive (certainly not 'free' as many
people think--there are costs involved)

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 Many forms: Telephone marketing, direct mail, online marketing,
etc.; Four distinctive characteristics: Non-public, Immediate, Customized,
Interactive; Well-suited to highly-targeted marketing efforts.

Why Telecom Industry?

Indian Telecom industry is one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world. In
telecom industry, service providers are the main drivers; whereas equipment
manufacturers are witnessing growth and decline in successive quarters as sales is
dependent on order undertaken by the companies.

Today the Indian telecommunications network with over 452.91 million(as on May 09)
subscribers is second largest network in the world after China. India is also the fastest
growing telecom market in the world with an addition of 10- 12 million monthly
subscribers. The tele-density of the Country has increased from 18% in March 2006 to
38.88% in May 2009, showing a stupendous annual growth of about 50%, one of the
highest in any sector of the Indian Economy. The Department of Telecommunications
has been able to provide state of the art world-class infrastructure at globally
competitive tariffs and reduce the digital divide by extending connectivity to the
unconnected areas. India has emerged as a major base for the telecom industry
worldwide.

Recent things to watch in Indian telecom sector are:

• 3G spectrum auctions
• Mobile Number Portability(MNP) Implementation
• New Policy for Value Added Service
• Due to technological advancement and increase in traffic.
• Abolition of Access Deficit Charge (ADC).

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33
CHAPTER -5

RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology

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Research methodology is away to systematically solve research problem. In it we study the
various step that are generally adopted by researcher in studying his research problem along with
logic behind them. It is necessary for a researcher to know not only the research
method/techniques but also the methodology. It may be noted, in the context of planning &
development that the significance of research lines in its quality and not in quantity. Researcher
should know how to apply particular research techniques, but they also need to know which of
these methods or techniques, are relevant and which are not, and what would they mean and
indicate and why?

Meaning of Research

“Research is common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. In fact research is an act of

Scientific investigation.”The project was divided in to the following steps.

To decide objective of the study

To decide research design &
application

To decide source of data collection

To decide from of data

collection

To organize & collect data

To prepare the research

report
To process & analyze report

1. To decide objective of the Study:-

35
This step is also research problem. Problem definition is the most critical part of the
research process. Research problem definition involves specifying the information
needed by management. The main objectives of the study are:

 To Creating the Awareness of Hotel Pristine Inn in among Corporates in Pune.

 To find out the level of customer satisfaction with the offers, discount and
services offered by Pristine Inn.

2. To decide research design & application:-

Research design involves defining the research problem, determining how to collect the
data and from whom, establishing the way the data will be analyzed estimating costs
and the preparation of the research approach. For this study, descriptive research was
selected.

3. To decide Source of data there are two source of data

 Primary Data

 Secondary Data

Primary data:-

Primary data is the original data collected specifically for the problem.

Reason for selecting primary data:-

In terms of primary data a questionnaire has been used to interview desire sample units
that give accurate and up to data information as well better to research problem.

Research approaches: - Primary data can be collected in five main ways: through
Observation, focus groups, surveys, behavioral data, and experiments.

Research instruments:- Marketing researchers have a choice of three main research

Instruments in collecting primary data:
 Questionnaires: - A questionnaire consists of questions presented to respondents
for their answers. Because of its flexibility, the questionnaire is by far the most

36
 common Instrument used to collect primary data. Questions can be open-ended or
closed-Ended.
 Qualitative measures: - Some marketers prefer more qualitative methods for
gauging consumer opinion because consumer actions do not always match their
answers to survey questions. Qualitative research techniques are relatively
unstructured measurement approaches that permit a range of possible responses,
and they are a creative means of ascertaining consumer perceptions that may
other-Wise be difficult to uncover.
 Mechanical devices: -Mechanical devices are occasionally used in marketing
research .Mechanical devices like galvanometers measure the respondent’s
interest or emotions aroused by exposure to a specific ad or picture.

Secondary data:-

Data potentially useful in solving a current problem but that were collected for a
different purpose.

Reason for selecting secondary data:-

Secondary data can be gathered quickly and inexpensively, compared to primary data, it
is clear useful to study analyzing the recent development in the telecom industry.

Contact methods:- Once the sampling plan has been determined, the marketing
researcher must decide how the subject should be contact:
 Mail questionnaire: - The mail questionnaire is the best way to reach people
who would not give personal interviews or whose responses might be biased or
distorted by the interviewers. Mail questionnaires require simple and clearly
worded questions.
 Telephone interview: - Telephone interviewing is the best method for gathering
information quickly; the interviewer is also able to clarify questions if
respondents do not understand them. The response rate is typically higher than in
the case of mailed questionnaires.
 Personal interview: - Personal interviewing is the most versatile method. The
interviewer can ask more questions and record additional observations about the
respondent, such as dress and body language. Personal interviewing takes two

37
 forms. In arranged interviews, respondents are contacted for an appointment, and
often a small payment or incentive is offered. Intercept interviews involve
stopping people at a shopping mall or busy street corner and requesting an
interview.
 Online interviews: - There is increased use of online methods. There are so
many ways to use the Net to do research. In this method, researcher can include a
questionnaire on its Web site and offer a people to answer the questionnaire.

4.To decide from of data collection:-

For this project survey method was selected which was carried through person
interview. Because information from different customers was required.

5. To organize & collect data:-

Once the researcher has formulated and development a research design including
questionnaire second thing he has to decide whether he has to collect the information.
From all the targeted customers. There can be two types of survey are possible.

 Sample Survey

 Census Survey

“For this project sample Survey was chosen”

Characteristics of the sample survey are:-

 It is cheaper than census survey

 It requires less time

 It is economical

 More detail information can be collected

 Deciding the sample plan requires following decisions

 Sample unit “Who is to be surveyed”

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Sample

Sample is the true representation of the population by studying of the sample we can
predict the behavior of the population.

Sample Size: 250 (in this case)

Method of Sampling:-

In this project, the survey was done within the market that means probabilistic
convenience Sampling was carried out.

6. To process & analyze data:-

After the data was collected it was tabulated, analyzed and interpreted to the conclusion
reach.

Techniques Applied

Bar Chart:- A chart in which the length of the bar represents the amount of the item
associated with the bar.

Pie Chart:- A circle divided in to sections, such that each section represent the
percentage of the total area of a circle associates with one variable.

Types of Research

Along with this there may be 3 type of research methodology these are :-

They are –

 Exploratory Research

 Descriptive Research

 Casual Research

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“Our research is based on the exploratory research.”

Exploratory Research
“The objective of this research is to gather preliminary information that will help us to define the
problem and to suggest any hypothesis.”

Which means first we have to define the problem and research objective? Then we have to
develop the research plan for collecting information. Now after collection data we have to
interpret those data for any suggestion,

40
CHAPTER-6

DATA ANALYSIS &

INTERPRETATION

Proximity of Service Center

Table No.6.1

41
 Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded
Excellent 3%
Very Good 30%
Good 37%
Average 23%
Poor 7%

Figure No.6.1

Data Analysis

The analysis shows that there is 3% Customer’s opinion for excellent, 30% for Very
good,37% for good and there is also 23% opnion is average and 7 % for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin has a large no. of customers those are satisfied with the services, it increase the
customer relationship and also increase the sales of the company.

User friendliness of delivery Point

Table No.6.2

Customer’s Opinion Percentage responded

Excellent 33%
Very Good 53%
Good 7%
Average 7%
Poor 0%

42
 Figure No.6.2

Data Analysis

By the analysis we conduct that there is 5% for the excellent, 25% customer’s opinion
for very good,7% for good and also 0% for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin has friendliness of delivery point, Virgin Mobile use effective techniques for
take attention of customer’s.

Service Time

Table No.6.3

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 19%
Very Good 34%
Good 27%
Poor 20%

Figure No.6.3

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 3% response for excellent and very good, 47% for good, 27%
for average also there is 20% response for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin makes the huge no of satisfied customers by its services. It is helpful to increase
the customer relationship and also for the sales of the company.

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 Availability of Customer Care

Table No.6.4

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 19%
Very Good 34%
Good 27%
Poor 20%

Figure No.6.4

Data Analysis

There is observed by the analysis that 18% opinion for excellent, 23% for Very good,
39% good and also there is 20% for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin mobile has very good and huge customer care service, by this customer can
easily find the solution of the problem.

Quality of Service by Customer Care

Table No.6.5

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 19%
Very Good 34%

44
 Good 27%
Poor 20%

Figure No.6.5

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 19% response for excellent, 34% very good, 27% good and also
for 20% poor

Data Interpretation

Virgin Mobile has good quality of customer care Services, where customer gets the
quick response of his queries; it makes the good relationship between the company and
customer.

Network Quality

Table No.6.6

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 17%
Very Good 36%
Good 26%
Poor 21%

Figure No.6.6

Data Analysis

45
The analysis shows that there is 17% response for excellent, 36% for very good, 26%
for good and also 26% response for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin mobile has good network quality; by the analysis it is found that there is large
no. of customers those are highly satisfied with the network quality of virgin mobile.

Overall Satisfaction Level

Table No.6.7

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 12%

Very Good 38%

Good 28%

Poor 22%

Figure No.6.7

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 12% response for excellent,38% for very good,28% response for
good, and also 22% response for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin has large no. of satisfied customers by its services and offers. But in rural area
virgin is not so much successful.

Virgin Connection

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Table No. 6.8

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Yes 90%
No 10%

Figure No.6.8

Data Analysis

By the analysis we come to conclusion that 10% of customer base is using virgin
connection and 90% other network.

Data Interpretation

There is less no of virgin mobile user in the Allahabad, so there is large no of other
network user.

Which is the most important factor while using Mobile Service

47
 Table No.6.9
Reasons Percentage Responded
Price 42%
Mobile handset compatibility 33%
Mobile Service of friends and relatives 12%
Free extra services like internet, down 6%
Others 7%

Figure No.6.9

Data Analysis

By the analysis we conduct that there is 42% for price, 33% for mobile handset compatibility,
12% for mobile service of friends and relatives, 6% for free extra service like internet
download,7% for others.

Data Interpretation

There is large no of customer price conscious and they prefer handset compatibility like GSM or
CDMA.

Which is the most cost effective Brand?

Table No.6.10

Brand Percentage Responded

Virgin 21%
Reliance 24%
Tata Indicom 7%
Aitel 24%
Vodafone 24%

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 Figure No.6.10

Data Analysis

The analysis shows that there 21% for virgin,24% for reliance,7% for Tata Indicom, 24% for
Airtel,24% for Vodafone.

Data Interpretation

By the analysis it is founded that virgin is most cost effective brand.

Are you aware of virgin’s 50 paisa STD Plan

Table No.6.11
Customer’s Response Percentage Responded
Yes 68
No 32

Figure No.6.11

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Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 68% response for yes and 32% response for no.

Data Interpretation

There is average awareness of virgin mobile 50 paisa STD plan.

Are you aware of virgin’s paid incoming call plan ?

Table No.6.12

Awareness Percentage Responded

Yes 88%
No 12%

50
 Figure No.6.12

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 88% response for yes and 12% response for No.

Data Interpretation

There is highly awareness of virgin mobile paid incoming call plan.

If not a virgin customer, will you like to switch to virgin ?

Table No.6.13

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Yes 14
No 32

51
 Can’t Say 54

Figure No.6.13

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 14% response for yes and 32% response for no and 54% for can’t say.

Data Interpretation

There is low customer response for switch to virgin mobile because of the CDMA compability.

What is the main problem going for virgin mobile?

Table No.6.14
Problems Percentage Responded
CDMA Technology 36%
Limited Handsets 42%

52
 Price 8%
Switching from existing handset 10%
Others 4%

Figure No.6.13

Data Analysis
By the analysis we conduct that 36% response for CDMA technology, 42% for Limited handset,
8% for Price, 10% for Switching from existing handset, 4 % for others.
Data Interpretation
There is huge response for CDMA Technology Problem and also for Limited handsets.

53
CHAPTER-7

FINDINGS

Findings

 Virgin comes only CDMA features.

54
 Virgin has a large no. of customers those are satisfied with the services, it
increase the customer relationship and also increase the sales of the company.

 Virgin has friendliness of delivery point, Virgin Mobile use effective techniques
for take attention of customer’s.

 Virgin mobile has very good and huge customer care service, by this customer
can easily find the solution of the problem.

 Virgin has large no. of satisfied customers by its services and offers. But in rural
area virgin is not so much successful.

 Virgin is most cost effective brand.

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CHAPTER-8

LIMITATION

Limitation

 It was assumed that the information given by the respondents is authentic

and best of their knowledge.

 Some of the view given was completely views by customers as they were
in a hurry and were not considered in the data analysis.

 The result of the study is applicable to the survey area only.

 Time and Money is also one of the important limitations.

56
  Dull process and unwilling respondent also affect the result of the study.

CHAPTER-9

Conclusion & Recommendation

57
Conclusion of the Study

Telecom industry is seeing a rise as the trend goes and has potential for growth. Taking into
account the tele-density of 38.88% there is still unexplored market. The competition is fierce
with around 10 Service providers in most of the 18 circles and also the implementation of MNP.
The service providers have to be different and have to stick to strict service norms and provide
excellent customer service in order to hold on to the market share. Thus there is intense
competition in the market but at the same time scope for development in rural areas. Airtel, Idea
and Vodafone have taken up initiatives to provide customized connections to Rural customers
like Motor pumps control system, loud speaker phone for illiterates and so on.

In a few words Telecom sector has a lot of scope for growth and the customers at the same time
have the benefit to choose from a wide range of service providers offering various plans targeted
to specific customers

 It can be said that Virgin has created its image in a very short period in Allahabad.

 It is attracting the customers with its good services. Most of the customer satisfied by
Virgin mobile services and facilities.

58
  This satisfaction can be concluded by the response of customer in the questionnaires. Day
by day Virgin is improving his reputation to other Mobile network.

Recommendations:

 Virgin should try to promote its latest plans like 50 paisa STD calls in advertisements.

 Making customers aware about latest pricing will increase its market share in terms of
cost effectiveness.

 Virgin should try to tap 14% of customer base who want to switch to virgin but not able
to switch because of existing non-compatible handset.

 Solving existing non-compatible handset problem and better communication to inform

latest pricing strategies will lead to substantial increase in consumer base for virgin
mobile.

 In order to enhance customer satisfaction, time gap between services sought and
delivered should be minimized.

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60
 Appendix

Questionnaire for the Virgin Customers:

Please fill this questionnaire and rate Virgin Mobile on the following aspects from 1 to 5, with 5
representing excellent i.e. highly satisfied and 1 being poor i.e. highly dissatisfied.

Q.No.1: how is the proximity of the service centre?

Ans: 1 2 3 4 5

Q.No.2: Is the delivery point user friendly?

Ans : 1 2 3 4 5

3. How satisfied are you with time gap between services sought and delivered?

2 3 4 5

4. How accessible is the customer care on phone?

1 2 3 4 5

5. How well does the customer care respond to the queries of the customer?

1 2 3 4 5

6. How is the Network quality?

1 2 3 4 5

7. The overall satisfaction level with Virgin Mobile?

1 2 3 4 5

Name:

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 Address:

Contact No:

Questionnaire for target customer’s expectation:

Note: - Please fill this questionnaire and help us in finding target customer’s expectation from
the firm. Please select the option which according to you is most suitable:

1. Do you own a virgin mobile connection?

a) Yes b) No

2. Which is the most important factor while using a mobile service?

a) Price b) Mobile handset compatibility c) Mobile service of friends and relatives

d) Free extra services like internet, downloads e) Others

3. Which is the most cost effective brand in mobile service?

a) Virgin b) Reliance c) Tata Indicom d) Airtel e) Vodafone f) Idea g) Bpl h) Don’t know

4. Are you aware of 50 paise national call plan of virgin mobile?

a) Yes b) No

5. Are you aware of paid incoming call facility by virgin mobile?

a) Yes b) No

6. If not a virgin customer, will you like to switch to virgin?

a) Yes b) No c) Can't say

7. Why you do not want to go for virgin mobile?

a) CDMA technology b) Limited Handset c) Price

d) Switching from existing handset

e) Others

62
63
BIBLIOGRAPHY

64
Name Of Book Name Of Author Edition & year

Marketing Management Paramhans Foundation First Edition, 1992

Research Methodology C.R.Kothari Second Edition, 1993

Marketing Management Philip Kotler Tenth Edition, 1999

Fundamentals of Statistics D.N.Elhance Present Edition, 1992

REFRENCES

1. Website of www. mobilestore.com

2. Website of www.google.com
3. www.virginmobile.com

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