A RESEARCH REPORT ON

Marketing Strategies of VODAFONE

SUBMIITED TO: Prof: PRASHANT PRABHAKAR

SUBMITTED BY: ABHISHEK UPADHYAY

AFFILIATED TO: MAHAMAYA TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY,NOIDA

ABES INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT GHAZIABAD

CHAPTER ORGANIZATION

Chapter No.
Ch-1

Subject
Introduction Company profile About Topic

Ch.-2 Ch-3 Ch.-4 Ch.- 5

Objective of study Research Methodology Annexure Reference

INTRODUCTION OF THE COMPANY

The name Vodafone comes from Voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones."

As of 2006 Vodafone had an estimated 260 million customers in 25 markets across 5 continents. On this measure, it is the second largest mobile telecom group in the world behind China Mobile.

In the United States, Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon Wireless.

2.2) Mission:

Vodafone is primarily a user of technology rather than a developer of it, and this fact is reflected in the emphasis of our work program on enabling new applications of mobile communications, using new technology for new services, research for improving operational efficiency and quality of our networks, and providing technology vision and leadership that can contribute directly to business decisions.

2.3) Vision: Our Vision is to be the worlds mobile communication leader enriching customers lives, helping individuals, businesses and Communities be more connected in a mobile world.

2.4) History:

In 1982 Racal Electronics plc's subsidiary Racal Strategic Radio Ltd. won one of two UK cellular telephone network licenses. 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 Telecom 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 Peoples 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 Speech mark logo, as it is a quotation mark in a circle; the O's in the Vodafone logotype are opening and closing quotation marks, suggesting 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 E-Plus Mobilfunk. The acquisition gave Vodafone a 35% share of Mannesmann, owner of the largest German mobile network.

Vodafones original logo used until the introduction of the speech mark logo in 1998.

On 21 September 1999 Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with those 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 purchase of Orange, the UK mobile operator. Chris Gent would later say Mannesmann's move into the UK broke a "gentleman's agreement" not to compete in each other's home territory. The hostile takeover provoked strong protest in Germany and a "titanic struggle" which saw Mannesmann resists Vodafone's efforts. However, on 3 February 2000 the Mannesmann board agreed to an increased offer of 112bn, then the largest corporate merger ever. The EU approved the merger in April 2000. The conglomerate was subsequently broken up and all manufacturing related operations sold off.

On 28 July 2000 the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group Plc. In April 2001 the first 3G voice call was made on Vodafone United Kingdom's 3G network. In 2001 the Company took over Eircell, then part of eircom in Ireland, and rebranded it as Vodafone Ireland. It then went on to acquire Japan's third-largest mobile operator J-Phone, 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 Vodafone international services to the local market, without the need of investment by Vodafone. 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 marketed under the dualbrand scheme, where the Vodafone brand is added at the end of the local brand. (i.e., TDC Mobil-Vodafone etc.)

INTRODUCTION TO TOPIC
Customer Satisfaction

3.1) Introduction:

Customer satisfaction, a business term, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is part of the four perspectives of a Balanced Scorecard.

In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy.

There is a substantial body of empirical literature that establishes the benefits of customer satisfaction for firms.

3.2) Measuring customer satisfaction

Organizations are increasingly interested in retaining existing customers while targeting noncustomers; measuring customer satisfaction provides an indication of how successful the organization is at providing products and/or services to the marketplace.

Customer satisfaction is an ambiguous and abstract concept and the actual manifestation of the state of satisfaction will vary from person to person and product/service to product/service. The state of satisfaction depends on a number of both psychological and physical variables which correlate with satisfaction behaviors such as return and recommend rate. The level of satisfaction can also vary depending on other options the customer may have and other products against which the customer can compare the organization's products.

Because satisfaction is basically a psychological state, care should be taken in the effort of quantitative measurement, although a large quantity of research in this area has recently been developed. Work done by Berry, Brodeur between 1990 and 1998 defined ten 'Quality Values' which influence satisfaction behavior, further expanded by Berry in 2002 and known as the ten domains of satisfaction. These ten domains of satisfaction include: Quality, Value, Timeliness, Efficiency, Ease of Access, Environment, Inter-departmental Teamwork, Front line Service Behaviors, Commitment to the Customer and Innovation. These factors are emphasized for continuous improvement and organizational change measurement and are most often utilized to develop the architecture for satisfaction measurement as an integrated model. Work done by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry between 1985 and 1988 provides the basis for the measurement of customer satisfaction with a service by using the gap between the customer's expectation of performance and their perceived experience of performance. This provides the measurer with a satisfaction "gap" which is objective and quantitative in nature. Work done by Cronin and Taylor propose the "confirmation/disconfirmation" theory of combining the "gap" described by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry as two different measures (perception and expectation of performance) into a single measurement of performance according to expectation. According to Garbrand, customer satisfaction equals perception of performance divided by expectation of performance.

The usual measures of customer satisfaction involve a survey with a set of statements using a Likert Technique or scale. The customer is asked to evaluate each statement and in term of their perception and expectation of performance of the organization being measured.

3.3) Vodafone had highest customer satisfaction index in 2007

Lisbon, 25 August 2008 - Vodafone obtained the highest customer satisfaction index in the telecommunications sector in 2007, according to annual results published by Anacom. Vodafone achieved a satisfaction index of 74.4 (on a scale of 0 to 100), the highest score of all the companies in the Portuguese telecommunications market and considerably above the sector average of 67.6.

In the report published by Anacom, Vodafone is ranked in first place in all the indicators included in the survey: Satisfaction with the operator, Image that customers have of the operator, Customer Expectations, Perceived Quality of the operator's network and services, Perceived Value for Money, Complaints received and their handling, and Loyalty of customers to their operator.

In the Perceived Quality indicator, Vodafone obtained a score of 8.3 points for overall quality, way ahead of the scores of the other two operators (both obtained 7.7 points). Vodafone comes top in all the indicators for perceived quality of network and services: technical quality of the network (8.2 points); customer service and advice capability (7.6 points); quality (8.2 points), diversity (8.0 points) and reliability (7.9 points) of products and services offered; clarity and transparency of information supplied (7.8 points); network coverage (7.9 points) and clarity and transparency of price plans (7.9 points).

Similarly, in the indicators measuring the Image of mobile operators, Vodafone comes top in the five categories analyzed (on a scale of 1 to 10): 'It is a reliable company in terms of what it says and what it does' (8.1 points); 'It is stable and well established in the market' (8.8 points); 'It contributes positively to society' (7.5 points); 'It cares about its customers' (7.6 points); and 'It is innovative and forward looking' (8.5 points).

The methodology used in the ECSI Portugal 2007 survey (ECSI European Customer Satisfaction Index) is similar to that used by the European Commission to survey customer satisfaction in 25 Member States, enabling comparisons to be made between the results obtained in each country.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

Following are the main objective to study about the customer satisfaction on Vodafone. 1. To study telecommunication industry. 2. To study the company profile of Vodafone. 3. To study customer satisfaction of Vodafone. 4. To study various Marketing activities provided by Vodafone. 5. To study the various services provided by Vodafone. 6. To know the expectation of Vodafone Customers.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

5.1) Introduction: Marketing research means the systematic gathering, recording, analyzing of data about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services Marketing research has proved an essential tool to make all the need of marketing management. Marketing research therefore is the scientific process of gathering and analyzing of marketing information to meet the needs of marketing management. But gathering of observation is must be systematic. The systematic conduct of research requires: Orderliness, in which the measurements are accurate. Impartiality in analysis and interpretation.

All of research can be categorized into basic and applied. 1. BASIC RESEARCH: - Basic Research is that intended to expand the body of knowledge for the use of others. 2. APPLIED RESEARCH: - Applied Research is one, which is carried out to find the solution for a particular problem or for guiding a specific decision. It is usually private in nature. My research on Vodafone is carried on for guiding specific decisions and its results are useful only to Vodafone for taking particular decision regarding product quality, staff and security. Hence the nature of my research study is APPLIED RESEARCH .

ANNEXURE

Q1) Do you have a mobile phone? o Yes o No Q2) Are you aware about telecommunications service? o Yes o No If yes, then which operators Service do you use? o Vodafone o Airtel o Idea o Reliance o BSNL o Tata Indicom ( If not Vodafone then go to Q12 ) Q3) Are you aware about Vodafone? o Yes o No (If No, then go to Q11 ) (Multi-choice)

Q4) From which source you came to know about Vodafone? o Advertisement o Hoardings (Multi-choice)

o Newspapers o Mouth Publicity Q5) Since how long you are using Vodafone services? o Less than 1 month o 2-6 months o 6-12 months o More than 1 year

Q6) Which of the following services do you use of Vodafone? o Pre-paid o Post-paid Q7) Which services are more helpful to you while using Vodafone services? o Call rates o SMS service o Network o Value Added Services Q8) Dou you call at customer care? o Yes o No If yes, how often you call at customer care? o Daily (Multi-choice)

o Once a week o Once a month o Occasionally Q9) For what reason you call at customer care? o Value added services o Information regarding new schemes o Other queries o Complaining (Multi-choice)

Q10) Rate the following services on the basis of your satisfaction. Services Network SMS rates New schemes and offers Customer Care Recharge outlets Excellent Very Good Fairly good Average Poor

Call Rates Value Added Services

Q11) What makes you unaware about Vodafone? o Less Advertisements o Less Publicity o Others (If others then mention ________________________) Q12) Why you are not using Vodafone services? o Lack of awareness o High Prices o Poor Services o Poor network (Multi-choice)

Q13) Would you like to recommend Vodafone to others? o Yes o No

Q14) Give your suggestions to help in serve you better.

___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

Name: ________________ Age: ___ years Sex: Male/Female Contact no.: ___________ Signature: __________

Reference
Books: Marketing Management Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller.

Websites: http://www.vodafone.com/start/media_relations/news/local_press_releases/portug al/portugal_press_release/vodafone_had_highest.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_satisfaction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutch_(Indian_cellular_company) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodafone http://bora.nhh.no/bitstream/2330/1919/1/Saplitsa%202008.pdf www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=606658 www.iimcal.ac.in/community/consclub/reports/telecom.pdf