As many as 16 players vying for the attention of consumers in a market, how can anyone get noticed? Ask Indian telecom service providers and they will tell you how…
Though there is a cost involved in this branding exercise, telecom players in the country are not leaving any stones unturned to ensure the maximum mileage for their respective brands! In fact, telecom service operators are taking up 60% of the prime time advertising spots (not to mention that each campaign that is rolled out by a service operator on an average requires Rs.20 crore) exactly the way the FMCG brands do or have done in the past. So, does that mean that there are lessons that the FMCG brands need to learn from their telecom counterparts or vice versa? Well according to Ashwin Varke, CD of Lowe, “for once FMCG players need to spend more to match the telecom counterparts”.
The same attitude has been reflected in the way these telcos are going for brand endorsers scouting and the price seems to be no barrier. While Airtel has always had more than one face to talk about its brand (Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Vidya Ballan, Madhavan, Phew! The list goes on), Aircel has roped in ace cricketer M. S. Dhoni to communicate its message. “Aircel as a brand stands for values and simplicity and we find the same values are displayed by our ambassador as well,” says Gurdeep Singh, COO, Aircel. Even Virgin Mobile has got Ranbir Kapoor and Genelia D’Souza on board as its brand ambassadors. In fact, the latest buzz in the town is that Aamir Khan has been roped in as brand ambassador by Etisalat (a UAE based service provider that has just launched its services in India) for a whopping Rs.35 crore.
However, D. Ramakrishan, Head of Cartwheel (the agency that churns out creative for RCOM) differs in his approach as he says that, “Quite honestly, there is still a lot that telcos can learn from FMCG brands, given that they have been around for much longer and have been less flirty with communication and therefore are more focussed. What FMCG players can perhaps learn from telcos is probably how to inject more excitement and energy into their brands through innovation.”
Further, as this sector still continues to be in its infancy, with most operators harping about the hygiene factor like voice, it’s not difficult to talk about the benefits. “These challenges are very different from the ones that the FMCG sector would for instance face. Take for example washing powders. They earlier were talking about cleanliness, then they touched upon the fact that the clothes would not just be clean but also retain the colour and now they are talking about the anti-stain stuff in the form of Daag Acche hai,” adds Sagar. It’s probably this insight that was used by Aircel when they became a national brand from being a regional player. “There was a clear diktat from the company that we would not talk about voice at all and touch upon other things that mobile telephony has to offer and hence we started with talking about our pocket internet card,” says Gullu Sen, Vice Chairman, Dentsu India. Another important factor that telcos have now started to touch upon is the quality of service. As Manjit Singh, ED, MTNL puts it, “Brand is not created overnight. It’s the quality that makes the difference. Quality of service which you provide to the customer actually makes your a brand”.
Be that as it may be, but as far as differentiation is concerned, Indian telcos have certainly done a pretty good job with almost all brands having made a specific positioning in the mind of the end user. In fact today, one can certainly hear them all, loud and clear!
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.Though there is a cost involved in this branding exercise, telecom players in the country are not leaving any stones unturned to ensure the maximum mileage for their respective brands! In fact, telecom service operators are taking up 60% of the prime time advertising spots (not to mention that each campaign that is rolled out by a service operator on an average requires Rs.20 crore) exactly the way the FMCG brands do or have done in the past. So, does that mean that there are lessons that the FMCG brands need to learn from their telecom counterparts or vice versa? Well according to Ashwin Varke, CD of Lowe, “for once FMCG players need to spend more to match the telecom counterparts”.
The same attitude has been reflected in the way these telcos are going for brand endorsers scouting and the price seems to be no barrier. While Airtel has always had more than one face to talk about its brand (Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Vidya Ballan, Madhavan, Phew! The list goes on), Aircel has roped in ace cricketer M. S. Dhoni to communicate its message. “Aircel as a brand stands for values and simplicity and we find the same values are displayed by our ambassador as well,” says Gurdeep Singh, COO, Aircel. Even Virgin Mobile has got Ranbir Kapoor and Genelia D’Souza on board as its brand ambassadors. In fact, the latest buzz in the town is that Aamir Khan has been roped in as brand ambassador by Etisalat (a UAE based service provider that has just launched its services in India) for a whopping Rs.35 crore.
However, D. Ramakrishan, Head of Cartwheel (the agency that churns out creative for RCOM) differs in his approach as he says that, “Quite honestly, there is still a lot that telcos can learn from FMCG brands, given that they have been around for much longer and have been less flirty with communication and therefore are more focussed. What FMCG players can perhaps learn from telcos is probably how to inject more excitement and energy into their brands through innovation.”
Further, as this sector still continues to be in its infancy, with most operators harping about the hygiene factor like voice, it’s not difficult to talk about the benefits. “These challenges are very different from the ones that the FMCG sector would for instance face. Take for example washing powders. They earlier were talking about cleanliness, then they touched upon the fact that the clothes would not just be clean but also retain the colour and now they are talking about the anti-stain stuff in the form of Daag Acche hai,” adds Sagar. It’s probably this insight that was used by Aircel when they became a national brand from being a regional player. “There was a clear diktat from the company that we would not talk about voice at all and touch upon other things that mobile telephony has to offer and hence we started with talking about our pocket internet card,” says Gullu Sen, Vice Chairman, Dentsu India. Another important factor that telcos have now started to touch upon is the quality of service. As Manjit Singh, ED, MTNL puts it, “Brand is not created overnight. It’s the quality that makes the difference. Quality of service which you provide to the customer actually makes your a brand”.
Be that as it may be, but as far as differentiation is concerned, Indian telcos have certainly done a pretty good job with almost all brands having made a specific positioning in the mind of the end user. In fact today, one can certainly hear them all, loud and clear!
Surbhi Chawla
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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