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Marketing Project

August, 2010

Presented By Group 11

Kumar Gaurav, B10025

Nikhil Sobti, B10033

Varun Inani, B10057

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Acknowledgements

We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to Dr. Debasis Pradhan for providing us an opportunity
to carry out this research which has been an immensely enriching experience. His guidance on how
to go about this research has been immensely helpful.

Our thanks also to all the authors and researchers from whose writings and research we have taken
inputs. Our thanks to friends and colleagues too who have helped us with interviews and other
inputs.

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements................................................................................................................................. 2
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 6
Objectives of Tikona Digital Networks .................................................................................................... 7
Vision................................................................................................................................................... 7
Mission ................................................................................................................................................ 7
Corporate Social Responsibility .......................................................................................................... 7
Customer First ..................................................................................................................................... 7
Respect for Talent ............................................................................................................................... 7
Win-Win for all .................................................................................................................................... 7
Integrity ............................................................................................................................................... 7
Analysis ............................................................................................................................................... 8
Situation Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 9
Aggregate Market Factors .................................................................................................................. 9
Products and Services Offerings ..................................................................................................... 9
Market Size ..................................................................................................................................... 9
Indian Market................................................................................................................................ 10
Penetration in Indian Market / Internet Usage and Population Statistics of India ...................... 11
Growth of Broadband subscribers in India ................................................................................... 12
Stage in Product Life Cycle ............................................................................................................ 14
Category factors ................................................................................................................................ 15
Threats of new entrants................................................................................................................ 15
Bargaining power of buyers .......................................................................................................... 15
Bargaining power of suppliers ...................................................................................................... 15
Pressures from substitutes ........................................................................................................... 15
Category Capacity ......................................................................................................................... 16
Environmental Factors ...................................................................................................................... 16
Technological Factors.................................................................................................................... 16
Political Factors ............................................................................................................................. 16
Economic Factors .......................................................................................................................... 16
Social Factors ................................................................................................................................ 17
Legal Factors ................................................................................................................................. 17

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Company and Competitor Analysis ....................................................................................................... 18
Objectives ......................................................................................................................................... 18
Strategies .......................................................................................................................................... 18
Marketing Mix ................................................................................................................................... 19
Product .......................................................................................................................................... 19
Price .............................................................................................................................................. 19
Place .............................................................................................................................................. 20
Promotion ..................................................................................................................................... 20
Ability to design new products ..................................................................................................... 24
Ability to deliver Services .............................................................................................................. 24
Ability to Market ........................................................................................................................... 25
Ability to Finance .......................................................................................................................... 26
Customer Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 29
Segmentation .................................................................................................................................... 29
Geographic .................................................................................................................................... 29
Demographics ............................................................................................................................... 29
Consumer Behaviour......................................................................................................................... 30
Targeting ........................................................................................................................................... 31
Differentiation and Positioning ......................................................................................................... 31
Strategy – Product ................................................................................................................................ 34
Customer Targets .............................................................................................................................. 34
Competitor Targets ........................................................................................................................... 34
Service Features ................................................................................................................................ 34
Core Strategy .................................................................................................................................... 34
Value Propositioning ..................................................................................................................... 34
Strategy – Marketing Communications Programmes ........................................................................... 36
Integrated Marketing Communication Programmes........................................................................ 36
Offline Channels ............................................................................................................................ 36
Online Channels ............................................................................................................................ 36
Pricing Strategy ................................................................................................................................. 36
Channel Strategy ............................................................................................................................... 36
Recommended Strategy........................................................................................................................ 37
Mission .............................................................................................................................................. 37
Objectives ......................................................................................................................................... 37

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Corporate Objectives .................................................................................................................... 37
Marketing Objectives .................................................................................................................... 37
Values ............................................................................................................................................ 38
Strategy – Product ............................................................................................................................ 38
Customer Targets .......................................................................................................................... 38
Strategy – Marketing Communications Programmes ....................................................................... 39
Integrated Marketing Communication Programmes .................................................................... 39
Channel Strategy ........................................................................................................................... 40
Exhibits .................................................................................................................................................. 41
References ............................................................................................................................................ 44

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Introduction
In his announcement of the Next Generation Internet Initiative in 1996, Bill
Clinton said: “When I took office, only high energy physicists had ever heard
of what is called the World Wide Web... Now even my cat has its own page.”

The growth and reach of the internet worldwide over the years has been stupendous to say the
least, yet India finds itself as a laggard when it comes to accepting the language of the modern,
global, digitalized world.

Despite there being more than 100 Internet Service Providers (ISP) with class A license in India (see
Exhibit 1) the reach of the internet services is yet to mature and extensively capture most of the
households, small business enterprises, schools, educational institutes and other organizations. This
situation opens up a huge market potential for a player intent on dominating the broadband and
internet services market. More has been elaborated on the current market size in the Situation
Analysis section.

The following figure gives the market share of the major players in the Internet and Broadband
services.

Figure A: Major Indian ISPs Market Share as on Dec 09


Data Source: http://www.ispai.in/Stat4-MarketShare.php

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Objectives of Tikona Digital Networks
Vision
Our vision is to be a leading Broadband and IT services company, offering innovative products and
solutions to home, enterprise and other customers in India and globally. We believe that our next
generation services will change the way India lives, transacts, and communicates and we believe that
we can make a significant contribution towards a powerful Broadband enabled India.1

Mission
TDN mission is to raise the benchmarks of customer experience in the country for all times to come.
TDN will endeavour to deliver enhanced customer experience through innovation, by use of cutting
edge technology and by extensive knowledge dissemination to members of its customer support
teams.1

Corporate Social Responsibility


We imbibe in high standards of social and civic responsibility, as we firmly believe that we should
contribute to the society in which we operate. We aim at providing the community our technologies
and solutions to support them in their growth and development. TDN is deeply committed to the
cause of reducing the digital divide that exists in the country across geographies and different socio-
economic segments. In this regard, TDN plans to extend Broadband and IT services at marginal costs
to schools, healthcare institutes and government or non-government establishments engaged in
providing services to masses that do not have access to such services.1

Customer First
Our core business strategy is guided by customer value, customer sensitivity and customer
convenience.2

Respect for Talent


We will create and maintain a transparent and respectful work environment that helps in attracting,
retaining and nurturing the best talent. We encourage an open work culture that is conducive to
making work joyful.2

Win-Win for all


We work for the success of our customers, investors, employees and our ecosystem partners. We
believe in empowering, motivating, appreciating and inculcating a sense of ownership among the
members of Tikona eco-system.2

Integrity
We are accountable to all our stakeholders, regulators, government and customers and believe in
adopting a culture of ethical business practices, transparency and highest standards of corporate
governance.2

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Analysis
The Vision of Tikona Digital Networks (TDN) while being grandly put is too narrowly defined wherein
it stereotypes itself as one player in the realm of Broadband and IT services. It is a classical case of
marketing myopia3, where the company clearly sees the short term goal of providing India with a
world class Broadband and IT services but fails to define for itself the bigger idea it wants to
implement Indian context.

The Mission while being customer oriented fails to delineate what goal and how it wants to achieve
it for the customer.

TDN could have put forth that its vision is to see a seamlessly connected India and its mission is to
being the facilitator of communication in the new digital world. This way it defines a bigger paradigm
that defines its business model while precluding being stereotyped as just another Internet
company.

While the company does not provide any objectives, it does nonetheless define certain values that it
believes are important to its business. These values are customer oriented and stress on creating a
conscientious environment and focusing on the customer, respecting employees, being accountable
to the customer, stakeholders and regulators.

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Situation Analysis
Aggregate Market Factors
Products and Services Offerings
TDN’s products & services broadly target three sections:

1. Wireless Broadband to Home (BTH) service with WPA2 and 802.1x security features.
TDN also offers a complimentary licensed anti-virus package with this service that
protects data on customer PC from spyware, viruses and any malware.
2. Wi-Bro service in Campuses and Buildings.
3. Direct To Office (DTO) Wireless Internet Service Internet Leased Lines over Secure
Wireless last mile, hence provides Media diversity and Service Provider Redundancy to
meet the Internet needs of the organizations.4

Market Size

The total subscriber base for internet users in India is 81 million as of 2009. Internet penetration in
India is one of the lowest in the world which is about 7.0% of the population, compared to other
nations like United States, Japan or South Korea where internet penetration is significantly higher
than in India.5

The current Internet market penetration in India is extremely low at 6.9% when compared to other
developing nations. India being the second largest populated nation offers huge market
opportunities for internet usage in today’s digital age. Figure B illustrates the size of the Indian
population vis-a-vis the population of the markets having better internet penetration than India,
while Figure C gives us an insight about the internet user distribution across the world. It can be
inferred quickly that the market for Internet services is in a very nascent stage in India, and the
growth potential in the coming years is very high.

Figure B: World Population Distribution, 2009


Data Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/

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Figure C: World Internet Usage Distribution, 2009
Data Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/

Indian Market
The growth of Internet subscribers in India over the past 7 years is depicted in Figure D and Table 1
below. It can be observed that there has been a steady growth in the subscribers’ numbers over
these years. From March ’09 to Dec ’09, the subscribers population has increased from 13.5 million
to 15 .24 million showing a growth of 12.6% over the past 9 months6. When we compare this
subscribers figure with our population, it is evident that there is a huge market potential.

Figure D: Periodic growth of Internet Subscribers in India


Data Source: TRAI Indicator Report (October-December 2009)

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Year Subscribers (in lakhs) Growth (%)
Mar-03
36
Mar-04
45 25
Mar-05
56.5 26
Mar-06
69.4 23
Mar-07
92.71 34
Mar-08
110.09 20
Mar-09
135.4 22
Jun-09
140.5 4
Sep-09
146.3 4
Dec-09
152.4 4.21
Table 1: Periodic growth of Internet Subscribers in India
Data Source: TRAI Indicator Report (October-December 2009)

Penetration in Indian Market / Internet Usage and Population Statistics of India


Table 2 shows the increase in Internet penetration in India over the years. While the percentage
penetration has picked up in last couple of years, it is still quite less when compared with our Asian
counterparts like China with 28.7%, Japan with 75.5 %, South Korea with 77.3%. India aspires to be a
developed nation like US where the internet penetration is 76.3%7. This clearly shows that India has
a long way to go as far as Internet penetration is concerned. Interconnectivity is one of the basic
requirements of growth and if India is to realise its dream of becoming a developed nation by 2020,
it must take immediate and drastic steps to increase the internet penetration.

%
Users Population
Year Penetration
2004 39,200,000 1,094,870,677 3.58%
2005 50,600,000 1,112,225,812 4.55%
2006 40,000,000 1,112,225,812 3.60%
2007 42,000,000 1,129,667,528 3.72%
2009 81,000,000 1,156,897,766 7.00%
2010 81,000,000 1,173,108,018 6.90%
Table 2: Internet penetration in India over the years
Data Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/

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Growth of Broadband subscribers in India

Tikona Digital Networks aims to connect India through Wireless Broadband service. Broadband
Internet access, often shortened to just broadband, is a high data rate Internet access—typically
contrasted with dial-up access using a 56k modem.8 TDN aims to enhance user experience by
offering Internet speed greater than or equal to 256k through broadband service.

Figure E: Broadband subscribers vis-à-vis other Internet subscription.


Data Source: Internet Service Providers Association of India

Figure E above compares the growth in Broadband subscription (>=256kbps) vis-à-vis other forms of
Internet subscriptions (<256kbps). The emerging trend is clearly towards Broadband subscription. By
December ’09, the number of Broadband subscribers has overtaken subscribers availing other
modes of internet. Figure F below gives a break-up of various modes of internet usage in India.

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Figure F: Technology wise distribution of Internet users in India
Data Source: Internet Service Providers Association of India

Broadband sevice is povided by various ISPs through different technologies as depicted in Figure G
below. TDN believes that wireless broadband is the way to go for India keeping in mind its
inadequate wireline base.

“The current broadband Internet scenario is similar to what the mobile


scenario was 10 years ago. India has just a little less than 10 million
broadband users while China has more than 120 mn broadband users. China
could reach this level as they had a large wireline base of over 400 mn lines.
India has only 40 mn and only a fraction of this is usable for broadband.
Wireless broadband is the only option for India to increase its broadband base
to levels that are similar to China’s. We envision a powerful broadband
enabled India and believe that it is an imperative for an emerging IT and
software superpower.”9

Prakash Bajpai, Founder, MD & CEO, Tikona Digital Networks

The figure shows that only 1% of Broadband users are availing wireless broadband technology. This
offers a huge scope for TDN, as it can target not only new internet users but can also seek to convert
non-wireless users to wireless form of broadband.

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Figure G: Technology wise distribution of Broadband users in India
Data Source: Internet Service Providers Association of India

Stage in Product Life Cycle


From the analysis above, it can be asserted that the Internet service is very much in its initial stages
in India. It is still in earlier stages of its growth phase as shown in Figure H below.

Product Life Cycle

Internet
Penetration in
India

Introduction Growth Maturity Decline

Figure H: Stage of Internet Service in India in the Product life cycle.

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Category factors
Threats of new entrants
Opening up of the Broadband Wireless Access and 3-G market as a result of the recent auction has
led to a large number of existing telecom players and Internet service providers to jump onto the
BWA bandwagon. Infotel (owned by Reliance Industries), Qualcomm, Bharti, Aircel, Augere as some
of the new players that have entered the market. With their entry, the pan-India market has become
more competitive although in the short run Tikona has an advantage as the telecom circles it has bid
for, namely Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (E), Uttar Pradesh (W), Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, do not have
other players.

Bargaining power of buyers


With the increased options in the Internet service market, the regular spate of discounts continues.
Also, the presence of State owned entities like BSNL & MTNL affects the price expectancy as well as
the price limit of the consumer. In such a scenario, the bargaining power of the consumer increases.
The reasons for the bargaining power of the consumer in the current situation are:

 Low buyer volume - Given the low Internet penetration and lower broadband
penetration.
 High buyer switching costs - For the broadband service, the customer would be required
to purchase/rent network devices, in addition to purchasing a computer.
 Availability of existing substitute products/services – The GPRS enabled handsets,
presence of local Internet vendors.
 Buyer price sensitivity

Bargaining power of suppliers


While Tikona does not have suppliers of Internet services to affect their operations, it has to deal
with IT equipment manufacturers, to provide them with high-end equipment like:

 Routers
 Switches
 Wireless
 Security
 Physical Security and Building Systems
 Optical Networking
 Network Management
 Interfaces and Modules

Given the low number of manufacturers and suppliers of IT equipment, it is difficult for Tikona to
drive a good bargain with them.

Pressures from substitutes


With increase in entrants into the broadband market, as elucidated above, the pressure from
substitutes increases. What has so far not been taken into account is that the substitutes will not
only exists in terms of alternate services providers but also in term of alternate services like GPRS,
3G etc. The relevant reasons for such a pressure are:

 Buyer’s propensity to substitute – mobile phones being the most easily available
substitutes

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 Relative price performance of substitute – given the low demand of Internet usage, a
mobile can easily suffice a broadband connection
 Buyer switching costs – switching costs are low with some competitors giving discounts
to existing users of rival products.
 Ease of substitution – buying a substitute like a mobile is relatively easy to setting up a
fixed broadband connection.

Category Capacity
With setup of new broadband Internet service providers and low broadband penetration, there is
availability of excess category capacity to service current and short-term future needs of the market.

Environmental Factors
Technological Factors
With introduction of the digital age in India, the consumer has become more aware of technology
and takes into account many factors like after-sale service, customer support, satisfaction,
guarantee, company size, service plans etc before making a purchase decision. Some technological
factors that have contributed to this transition are:

 Penetration of computer/internet
 Rise in E-commerce
 Change in lifestyle to a younger, upwardly mobile generation which values virtual presence,
social networking
 Change in business pattern with increased dependence on technology like in the banking
sector

Political Factors
The government adopting a laissez-faire approach to business would have resulted in a free-for-all in
the market. To prevent this, the government takes certain step to prevent abuse of market power by
big business entities. The following factors contribute to politics affecting the business environment:

 Monetary & fiscal policies – the recent increase in tax on computer and IT equipments
affects Tikona’s market by increasing prices of complementary products.
 Government relationship with industries
 - the interest taken by the government in industry
is related to the scope of employment, income enhancement, and support to other
important sectors like manufacturing that the industry provides. It is only the increased
importance of Internet in the economy as a support system that the Government is forced to
look into improving conditions for the broadband sector.
 Political Controversies and there implications – the recent controversy regarding the
Ministry of Communications and Information Technology affected the business by hiking up
costs due to the auction of the Broadband Wireless Access spectrum.

Economic Factors
The recent economic crisis badly affected the economy, this translated into lower consumer
spending. Other than such economic cycles, factors such as the current high inflation rate, cost of
living, interest rates etc, affect the market by reducing consumer appetite for expenditure.

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Social Factors
How the society perceives a new technology is important to the way it consumes it. Internet has
been accepted by the society as a norm to improve efficiency, interaction. This helps improve the
market condition as the society is more amenable to the product. Other factors that affect market
are:

 Change in consumption pattern – with increased dependence on internet, the demand for
broadband has increased as is visible from the increased penetration of broadband internet.
 Difference in lifestyle – the current generation of consumer have had exposure to Internet
from an early age as a result, their conditioning to Internet is a given. The generation views
Internet as a necessity making it easier to convince the consumer of making a purchase
decision.
 Two income families – This social trend of having both working parents improves the market
as disposable income increases while less interaction of the child with family members raises
scope of viewing broadband as a source of engaging the child.

Legal Factors
Legislation affects businesses around the world. Reacting to certain happenings, the legislation can
be passed such that it improves the scope of doing business or makes it difficult for the company to
market, provide services for its product.

Increased stress on Internet security – while the idea behind the legislation is to protect the society;
it makes it expensive for the company to provide for extra security without passing on the load to
the consumer.

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Company and Competitor Analysis
Objectives
Tikona claims that their core business strategy is guided by customer value, customer sensitivity and
customer convenience.

One of the objectives of the Tikona Digital Networks (TDN) is to get enough number of building
permissions to make them Wi-Bro so that TDN can stabilize their network. TDN has got the
permission for the approximately 3000 building in the different areas of Mumbai and also makes
them Wi-Bro enabled, to starts services in that particular buildings plus the building adjoining to that
building. TDN has started a reverse process, earlier the process was like, TDN got the permission
from the authorized person to make the building WI-Bro enable and then starts selling in that
building, now the process is generate the sale in the building which is just adjoining to the WI-Bro
enable building and then try to get the permission from the authorized person to make that
buildings Wi-Bro enable.

Strategies
BSNL
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has the highest number of customer in the country and also captures
a more than 50% of market share. Apart from broadband, it provides the services like Video
multicasting, Video-on-demand and Interactive gaming, Audio and Video conferencing, IP
Telephony, Distance learning etc. It also has very large customer base in rural part of India.

BSNL is playing a leadership role in developing the telecom infrastructure in rural areas. It has been
successful in increasing its cellular subscriber base by pioneering its services in the rural terrain. Its
services cover the whole of India, except Delhi and Mumbai, which are covered by MTNL, the other
state-owned player.

BSNL is a low-cost service provider of many services. This strategy has helped BSNL in penetrating
the market.

Airtel
Bharti Airtel is in second place in terms of market capturing of broadband. It acquires 13.65% of
market after BSNL which has captured 54.44% of market (TRAI). Airtel has recently launched its 16
mpbs broadband, and is advertising through several advertising mediums such as –Mobile &
Internet, Print, TV, Radio and Outdoor and Transit advertisements. Today, it is one of the fastest
growing telecom companies in the world with more than 40 million subscribers.

In order to improve cost and quality, the company outsources non-core activities through business
alliances. These alliances provide access to new technologies and allow the company to adopt the
best practices of enhancing customer experience. In fact, Airtel has established alliances with Sing
Tel, Ericsson, Nokia, Siemens, Nortel, Corning, IBM, Hinduja TMT, TeleTech and MphasiS.

Bharti has decided to use Airtel as the single brand name across all its categories such as cellular,
fixed and internet services. The company believes that an integrated approach such as One Airtel
will help it in better addressing customer needs through bundled service offerings. This initiative is
slated to increase Airtel’s ROI.

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Reliance
Reliance Communications, previously known as Reliance Infocom, brought about a digital revolution
in the Indian telecom industry by providing India’s vast population with affordable means of
information and communication. Reliance has most number of outlets in the country and they are
retailing their new product through them. Reliance is retailing its new Net connect broadband plus in
12000 IT retail outlets across India as well as 2300 Reliance communication retail stores and 240
reliance world outlets. They have a unique selling approach. They make customer to buy their
product once through attractive offers, and even if half of the total broadband user buy reliance net
connect once and with lower profit margin also reliance will be benefited to a large extent. It has
built a 60,000-kilometre-long fibre optic backbone, crisscrossing the entire country.

Tata Indicom
Tata Indicom is extensively advertising its new product Photon plus with a punch line Express
Wireless Broadband.

Marketing Mix
Product
Tikona’s product is by far the most innovative thing for broadband on paper. Making use of free
frequencies which reduce its cost significantly, gives it an advantage in cost terms. They intend to
provide broadband services completely via wireless networks which eliminate any need for digging
up of the premises where internet has to be used. Fears of security are allayed due to the use of 4th
Generation Technology (OFDM and MIMO). Add to these the standard features given by most of the
other ISP’s like anti-virus packages etc. and you have a strong product from Tikona on paper.

Price

It is imperative that Tikona comes up with different pricing strategies to meet the needs of different
customers. Also it needs to revise its pricing policy very frequently as in telecom sector the prices are
always fleeting with introduction of new plans.
The following are some of the examples of the new offers that Tikona has made on its website.

It has different plans for enterprise use and home use, the prices and the plans available vary
depending on the location. We compare one of the plans of Tikona in Bangalore circle with that of
Airtel in the same circle with the same broadband speed.

While Airtel’s Impatience 1299-Airtel/KT/FL/20 plan provides 2Mbps speed at Rs. 1299 only. This is a
plan which will require the user to have an Airtel landline and it might require the user to have the

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lines installed for internet by some digging. Despite the stated fact it can be seen that there is a huge
disparity in the price offerings of TDN’s Wi-Bro service and Airtel’s DSL service.

Reference:
http://www.airtelbroadband.in/wps/wcm/connect/airtel.in/airtel.in/home/forme_newuser/broadband+and+fixed+Line/br
oadband/

Place

Tikona digital Networks has a direct reach in thirty two cities, where it is providing its services in the
form of broadband. Tikona plans to add around twenty more cities to its service circle. It is quite
clear that Tikona is looking to expand aggressively and improve its market penetration. The
following data gives the details of the cities where it is present.

Currently TDN services are available in following cities (as on July, 2010).
Ahmedabad Bengaluru Bhopal Chennai Coimbatore Delhi

Guntur Hubli Hyderabad Indore Kanpur Kolkata

Lucknow Madurai Mangalore Mumbai Mysore Nagpur

Pune Rajkot Solapur Surat Trichy Vadodara

Vijayawada Vizag

Shortly, service to be available in following cities (as on July, 2010)


Agra Allahabad Amritsar Aurangabad Bhilai Bhubaneswar

Chandigarh Jabalpur Jaipur Jalandhar Jodhpur Kolhapur

Kochi Kota Kozhikode Ludhiana Margao Meerut

Nashik Pondicherry Raipur Shimla Thiruvananthapuram Varanasi

Tikona is making smart moves by making itself available to “partner enrolment”. This concept means
that it is readily looking for partners who are willing to provide wireless broadband services of
Tikona to the end consumer. This is an effective way of vertical penetration in the cities where it
already exists. Similarly it invites people to enrol their buildings for Tikona Wi-Bro service,
anticipating future customers in the building and expanding its infrastructure.

Promotion

Tikona is projecting itself as the next generation broadband. Tikona is a novel concept and has a
superior technology at its disposal; hence it must leverage these advantages. Although it may not

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have the same spending power as that of the other biggies but its ads have been smart.

Profits
The Indian telecom services industry witnessed a growth of 20 per cent in revenues earned through Broadband,
the fifth largest segment of the telecom services space (after Fixed-line, Cellular, NLD and ILD), at Rs 9,000
crore recorded for the year ending March 31, 2010, as against Rs 7,500 crore recorded a year ago. Two key
players BSNL and MTNL saw 57 per cent and 92 per cent growth in their broadband revenues respectively.

According to a report by Voice & Data, the Indian government’s target of 20 million broadband connections by
2010 is likely to fall short with the year ending with just 8.75 million subscribers. Here also, the top 30 cities
contributed nearly 60 per cent to all the broadband subscribers. The only saving grace appears to be the
addition of 149 million subscribers for wireless data services on smart hand held devices that recorded a jump
of 47 per cent in the 12-month period ended December 2009.

On the OPM front, Bharti’s operating profit margins works out to 35% while for RCom
the same works out to 21%. The difference exists because Bharti has the first mover
advantage in the industry and has also broken even much ahead of RCom. Again, RCom
operates on the Reliance group principle, namely ‘high volumes and lower margins’. This
allows the company to grab a higher market share at a much faster rate.

The profits of Reliance and Airtel for their broadband services has been calculated as
given below using the data in Exhibit 2.

Company Revenue Operating Profit %Profit


Reliance Communications 2,839 681.39 24.00
Airtel Telecommunications 3,383.30 749.85 22.16

Please refer to the Exhibit 2 for more details on the financial statements.

Although in general good profit margins exist in the industry but there are some cases
where companies are making losses as well. The below excerpt from a report on Sify
reveal that it is making huge losses, also its market share has eroded rapidly in the past
few years.

Sify Performance
During the quarter ended Sept. 30, 200 8 SIFY recorded significant growth in all three of
its businesses, consisting of Internet access, portal content and corporate services.
Revenue grew to Rs 435.16 million ($9.4 million) for the second quarter. This is over
three times the revenue of the corresponding quarter of the previous year and 35%
higher than the June quarter. Loss before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation
and amortization for the September 30 quarter was Rs 232.8 million ($5.1million).
During the quarter ended Sept. 30, 20007 SIFY recorded the following charges to the

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Profit and Loss Account Depreciation expense of Rs 94.0 million ($2 million)
Amortization of goodwill of Rs 328.63 million ($7.1 million), largely consisting of the
goodwill recorded in the India World transaction, which is being amortized over five
years. Deferred compensation expense of Rs 28.41 million ($0.6 million related to the
amortization of stock-based compensation. Net loss for the quarter was Rs 614.9
million ($13.3 million) after considering the above charges.

Note: Financial data for TDN was not available and hence it is not possible to comment
on the profit margins of Tikona.

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 22


Value Chain

Reference: Winning strategies for making money in the Field Service Business, FieldSVC.Com

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 23


Differential Advantages of Competitors
Ability to design new products

TDN has certainly showed that it is far ahead when it comes to designing new products by
introducing the novel concept of Wi-Bro services in India.

Wi-Bro: Supporting Infrastructure


 A 2 Meter pipe for fixing small electronic equipment
weighing under 3 kgs is mounted on the parapet wall for
receiving the Broadband feed from the TDN network.
 The equipment are very-low power units and each
consumes less than 10 watts of power, which is what a
night lamp would typically consume.
 This by far is the most compact, light weight and low
power wireless broadband equipment worldwide.

The broadband fixtures are mounted on a pipe like element on the


terrace wall, in a manner that is similar to how building illumination
lamps are mounted.

The building shall be lighted with


Broadband by a very compact and lightweight module called
as the access point (AP), which looks exactly like a light
fixture.

This means that no digging in the premises is needed for installation of TDN broadband.

For other companies the broadband services are generally provided through DSL technology (on the
same copper cable that is used for connecting telephone), a landline connection and a DSL router. If
the landline connection is not already available in the locality there is a need to dig up the ground to
lay wires for the same.

Ability to deliver Services

TDN does not have a very strong base for delivering services, and this is often the grouse of its
existing users. Also there are high number of complaints due to installation of the equipment (CPE)
in the areas which are not yet live. Below is one comprehensive complaint from a TDN user that was
posted on http://www.consumercomplaints.in/complaints/tikona-digital-networks-tdn-c414931.html

Since i got the connection i am not satisfied i am facing lots of problems slow connection not reaching
closer to the subscribe speed, frequent disconnection, no constant speed, frequent disconnection and
very poor response from the management. i subscribed for one year plan with 512mbps speed which i
paid in advance thru AXIS Bank Cheque No.: 091570 Amount Rs: 6,618. My user ID: 1101619186
If you have any queries or need any information please contact me on My Mobile No.: +91 9966
850858.

Mr. Kareemullah Khan - Area Manager - 9052255345 He approach to me and has shown very

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 24


interest before subscribing now he is not answering my calls.

Mr. Raghu - Team Leader - 9160111777 or 8019621872 earlier he use to response my call but now
he is not answering my calls.

Mr. Srinath Rajula - Andhra Pradesh Nodal Officer - earlier he response to my couple of mails with
templates now no response from his side.

Please find below my complaints and Tikona Service No.:


1. Very Very Slow Speed not getting closer to subscribed plan
2. No constant speed fluctuating
3. Frequent disconnection
4. No Connectivity
5. Wrong Billing address

I have raised the following complaints since 10 July 2010 to 20 July 2010 with in 10 Day's none of
them have solved satisfactorily, they are just closing the service complaint without solving the problem
on their website.

Whereas the service support of its competitors is pretty strong, most have 24x7 customer support.
The first level of support will be resolution through the call centre technician over a phone
complaint, if the problem is not resolved in the next level a technician will visit the premises and
resolve the problem the very next day. Also if any change of equipment is needed it will be done
immediately.

Ability to Market

Airtel
Airtel’s reach is wide and extensive and the brand awareness is very high. Airtel has used novel ways
to market broad band by positioning itself as a value adder in the youth segment for stamping its
influence on B2C markets, in addition corporate plans have been floated to capture B2B market.

Larger than life celebrities like Shahrukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar have been roped in to endorse its
products. A master stroke was played when A.R. Rehman was signed to develop Airtel’s signature
tune. In addition Airtel has the financial muscle to carry out print and video advertising.

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 25


BSNL

Marketing vision of the BSNL has to be based on overall mission and vision of the organization. The
mission of BSNL is

 To provide world class State-of-art technology telecom services on demand at affordable


price.
 To provide world class telecom infrastructure to develop country's economy.

And the vision of BSNL is

 To become the largest telecom Service Provider in Southeast Asia.

Marketing Process of BSNL follows the following key points

 Discovering what product, service or idea customers want.


 Producing a product with the appropriate features and quality.
 Pricing the product correctly.
 Promoting the product; spreading the word about why customers should buy it.
 Selling and delivering the product into the hands of the customer.

Reference: http://www.alttc.bsnl.co.in/altzine/vol_29032006/marketing.htm

BSNL focuses on the Life Time Value of a customer and claims that they sell confidence.

Reliance

Reliance is very much price focused and believes in setting lower prices for the same set
of services offered by others. Reliance also uses most of the strategies used by Airtel apart from this.

Ability to Finance

Competitors like Reliance, Airtel, BSNL are behemoths when it comes to size, also they have a strong
reputation. These factors ensure that these companies are leaps and bounds ahead of Tikona in
terms of being able to obtain loans, credits and being able to finance new growth areas,
infrastructure, promotion costs et cetera.

Expected Future Strategies


It is expected that this industry will start seeing a price war even though there is still a lot of market
to be captured due to use of new technologies, increased usage by consumers and demands for
cheaper services.

Different products to lure customers will be used like broadband on mobile phones, data cards and
so on. Highly customized packages and offers specific to the needs and demands of the consumers
will be thrown in to the ring. Bandwidth on Demand concept will be used as this will facilitate
customer to change bandwidth as per his / her requirement. For example a customer with 256 kbps
can change to 1 Mbps during the video Conferencing session.

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 26


BSNL

Expanding Reach

BSNL is in the process of commissioning of a world class, multi-gigabit, multi-protocol, convergent IP


infrastructure through National Internet Backbone-II (NIB-II), that will provide convergent services
through the same backbone and broadband access network. The Broadband service will be available
on DSL technology (on the same copper cable that is used for connecting telephone), on a
countrywide basis spanning 198 cities.

Infrastructure

In terms of infrastructure for broadband services NIB-II would put India at par with more advanced
nations. The services that would be supported includes always-on broadband access to the Internet
for residential and business customers, Content based services, Video multicasting, Video-on-
demand and Interactive gaming, Audio and Video conferencing, IP Telephony, Distance learning,
Messaging: plain and feature rich, Multi-site MPLS VPNs with Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees.
The subscribers will be able to access the above services through Subscriber Service Selection
System (SSSS) portal. Technical Capability of the BackboneThe Broadband Service will be given
through the state of the art Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) based IP Infrastructure, which is
designed to provide reliable routes to cover all possible destinations within and outside the country.

Performance

 To provide high speed Internet connectivity (upto 8 Mbps)


 High speed Internet Access: This is the always-on Internet access service with speed ranging
from 256 kbps to 8 Mbps.

Value Added Services

 To provide Virtual Private Network (VPN) service to the broadband customers


 To provide dial VPN service to MPLS VPN customers.

Frills

 To provide multicast video services, video-on-demand, etc. through the Broadband Remote
Access Server (BRAS).
 Video and Audio Conferencing:
 Content based Services: Like Video on Demand, Interactive Gaming, Live and time shifted TV

Easy Billing Services

 To provide a means to bill for the aforesaid services by either time-based or volume- based
billing. It shall provide the customer with the option to select the services through web
server.
 To provide both pre-paid and post paid broadband services.

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 27


Reliance

 Online speed select will allow users to choose online, how fast they want to surf. Bandwidth
and speed on demand functions will be used.
 Bonus bandwidth to improve your surfing experience.
 Per-minute charges, improved pulse rate gives flexibility in consumer spending.
 Combo Plans

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 28


Customer Analysis
Segmentation
For focussed and effective marketing, it is important to target the highest potential consumers.
Segmentation is the first step in achieving this goal.

From TDN’s point of view, the internet users market in India (both Present and Potential) can be
effectively segmented in following ways:

Geographic
Population: Population is an extremely effective criterion for segmentation as is evident from
following graph10:

Internet in India - Distribution across Metros and Towns

The above graph clearly indicates the growing penetration of Internet across cities with different
population profile. While in 2000 Metros contributed 77% compared to just 5% by small towns, the
scenario is drastically different in 2009.

Demographics
a) Income Level: Income classification is useful for TDN because although now even the poor
people (students particularly) make use of internet, they do it mainly through Cyber Cafes. They
can hardly be categorised as potential customers for TDN in the short run. So, broadly the
market according to income level can be divided into two parts:
i) Upper/middle income class: People who can afford an Internet connection at their
homes. Around 23% of internet usage happens from home10.
ii) Lower Middle/ Poor income class : People who cannot afford Internet Connections at
home and use Cyber Cafes etc. Around 37% Internet access happens from Cyber
Cafes10.

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b) Occupation : Occupation can be an effective segmentation criteria11:
i) School children: 14% school going kids use internet in India.
ii) College students: 21% college students use internet in India.
iii) Salaried employees: 62% uses internet from office as in most of the offices, it’s free.

Consumer Behaviour
Buying behaviour varies significantly with different purchases. The following figure shows types of
buying behaviour based on degree of buyer involvement and the degree of differences among
brands13.

High Involvement Low Involvement

Significant Differences Complex Buying Variety-seeking Buying


between Brands Behaviour Behavior

Few Differences Dissonance Reducing Habitual Buying


between Brands Buying Behaviour Behaviour

Getting an Internet Connection would typically fall under ‘Complex Buying Behaviour’, because
there are a number of ISPs with significant differences between their levels of service, network
coverage and tariff rates. Also, the customers usually get highly involved while taking an internet
connection because there are high costs (time and money) involved.

In order to win customers their behaviour and preferences have to be kept in mind and the service
has to be improved and adapted according to their needs & preferences.

Interview of a Tikona ISP user


As a part of our endeavour to understand consumer behaviour, we interviewed Mr. Aswin Mohan,
an existing customer of TDN. Here are the important excerpts:

How long have you been using Tikona Internet Service?

It’s been over an year now.

So, how has been your experience? How would you rate it on a scale of 10?

It’s been a very satisfying experience so far. I am getting an excellent speed at very cheap rate (2
mbps @ Rs 800/month), which is far better than compared to other players. I would rate it 8 out of
10.

Have you faced any major problems with TDN’s service till now?

Well, a big disadvantage is that this service can be accessed only through PCs, it doesn’t connect to
Wi-Fi devices like mobiles or I-pod.

Did you try to contact their service persons about this? How has been their response?

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 30


Yes, I did ask them about this. They said that there are some compatibility issues and they are
working on it. They have been fairly prompt in resolving such issues.

Did you find any other problems with TDN?

Well, since it is a wireless service, so sometimes during bad weather I am unable to connect to
internet. However, this problem has been very rare. Besides this, no other issues.

So, based on your experience would you recommend TDN to other potential consumers?

In fact I have already recommended it to many of my acquaintances and one of my colleagues has
recently subscribed to it too.

The above interview helped us in understanding how an existing customer perceives TDN’s service.
The feedback as evident from this interview has been largely positive. When contrasted with some
of the consumer experiences we have described above in ‘Differential Advantages of Competitors’
section, it shows that TDN is working towards resolving its service related problems, which is a
positive sign.

Targeting
From the above segments TDN has to target the segments which offer the highest potential. TDN
has been rightly targeting following segments:

1. Offices/Businesses: TDN provides Direct To Office (DTO) Wireless Internet Service to


meet the Internet needs of the organizations. These are high potential customers for
TDN.
2. Upper/middle income class: Through its Wi-Bro service in Campuses and Buildings &
Wireless Broadband to Home (BTH), TDN is targeting that section of the population
which can afford an internet connection at their homes.
3. Metros/Tier 2 cities: TDN is working aggressively towards extending its services to over
150 cities across the country as it sees a huge potential there. The metros’ market is
getting saturated but Tier 2 cities offer a huge growth potential.

Differentiation and Positioning


To attract customers it is imperative for TDN to differentiate itself from other ISPs. The place TDN
occupies in consumers’ minds relative to competing ISPs is also extremely important.

TDN highlights its following features to differentiate itself and carve a favourable position for itself in
consumers’ minds12:

1. Wire Free Solution: The connection reaches wirelessly to homes and offices. The wireless
solution simplifies the complex task of networking without spoiling the interiors.
2. Latest MIMO technology: Improves network coverage up to two times over conventional Wi-Fi.
3. Assured wireless security: Uses WPA2 and 802.1x security features. Also offers a complimentary
licensed anti-virus package which protects data on Computer PC from spyware, viruses and any
other malware.

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 31


TDN’s Vision & Mission statements highlight its effort towards an effective positioning in consumer’s
minds12:

“Our vision is to be a leading Broadband and IT services company, offering innovative products and
solutions to home, enterprise and other customers in India and globally. We believe that our next
generation services will change the way India lives, transacts, communicates and we believe that
we can make a significant contribution towards a powerful Broadband enabled India.”

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 32


Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 33
Strategy – Product
Customer Targets
The company currently targets residential and commercial buildings given the huge potential and
multiple users that can be simultaneously targeted. Based on basic observation analysis,
differentiation between buildings was made and only G+5 buildings were targeted.

Competitor Targets
The competitors, given their economic size, have targeted all possible Internet users. Starting right
from cell phone users of GPRS (General packet radio service) to small homes to corporate houses
(leased lines).

Service Features
a. Instant connection – same day installation and activation.

b. Flexible, simple and competitive tariff plans without any lock-in period.

c. “Full Home coverage” as an additional service from TDN. This eliminates hassle of
technology and security complexities associated with self-installed Wi-Fi routers, which
have become a nuisance in recent times.

d. Share Broadband from multiple PCs or laptops in the home/office all home can connect
even desktops wirelessly.

e. Same day delivery once building is enabled with WIBRO.

f. Tech Help Desk for instant Online resolution of technical problems.

g. E-Bill sent to e-mail id; SMS on bill dispatch, no delays, privacy.

h. Cheque drop boxes within 250 meters of your building On-line bill payment to be
available.

Core Strategy
Value Propositioning
i. Built on 4th Generation technologies: OFDM, MIMO and beam steering.

ii. MIMO and beam steering: 2 x coverage vis a vis conventional WiFi.

iii. Secure, reliable and misuse proof wireless broadband connection.

iv. No cabling in the society building or inside the home, except for specific cases.

v. Customers get relief from risks of self installed home Wi –Fi.

vi. Complimentary coverage in garden and open areas covered by WIBRO.

vii. Local servicing partner in your locality for same day support.

viii. 16 x 7 call center for plan change, billing and general support.

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 34


ix. India’s first Broadband with a default anti-virus solution (no extra cost).

x. Optional Parental Control at a nominal monthly charge.

xi. Innovative and customer friendly tariff schemes, No extra charge if usage exceeds above
limit – bandwidth reduced to lower speed till end of the bill cycle, original bandwidth
restored automatically on beginning of new bill cycle.

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 35


Strategy – Marketing Communications Programmes
Integrated Marketing Communication Programmes
This term is used to describe a holistic approach to marketing communication. We now take a look
at what all-different approaches that have been used to project the product onto the consumer.

Offline Channels
Traditional Print (newspaper, magazine) – Given the wide spread reach of the print media and the
new relatively undeveloped markets of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh East and West, Rajasthan and
Himachal Pradesh that Tikona will target in the near future, this form of marketing communication
offers cost-effectiveness and breadth.

Online Channels
Online advertisement – The increased penetration of Internet had meant that potential consumers
of the service being offered are already using the Internet and this provides a huge opportunity to
interact and inform potential customers of new products and establish online presence of the
company and the product. Moreover, given that the future interaction with the customer, once the
customer is enrolled, and the delivery channel will be online having an online presence right from
the start makes good sense.

Pricing Strategy
The company uses Market Penetration Pricing, a pricing technique of setting a relatively low initial
entry price, often lower than the eventual market price, to attract new customers.

Given the relative undeveloped and potentially price sensitive markets of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh
East and West, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh and well as the need to build a large user case
quickly, this seems to be the right pricing strategy.

Channel Strategy
The Contractual Vertical Marketing Channel structure at Tikona has 3 channel partners as follows:

1. Channel Partners (Sales)

2. Installation Service Partner

3. Customer Care

The current channel strategy is very unique to Tikona. The Channel Partner is responsible for the pre
sales, sales and customer acquisition, installation at customer premises, servicing and billing and
collection services. The Channel Partner owner is like a micro CEO and his organization is Tikona’s
exclusive representative for business in the allocated area.

While such a strategy helps in achieving economies or sales impact that individually would have
been difficult for Tikona, it also increases the level of supervision that Tikona has to undertake to
maintain quality. Such a channel gives an impression that Tikona has effectively outsourced its core
activities and it currently focusing on brand building.

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 36


Recommended Strategy
Mission
We are in the business of helping people communicate. In today’s world where instant connectivity
is essential, we want to provide the best-of-breed business solutions to our customers by leveraging
Internet technology.

Objectives
Corporate Objectives
We want to achieve our mission with the following objectives in mind for our customers.

 The fast evolving business scenario has seen connectivity services gaining primacy; it is
essential that the company first understands the requirements of the customers and
develops a service network to deliver value to the customer’s operations.
 Launching an extensive knowledge dissemination drive to raise awareness regarding the
competitive advantage accruing to the customer as a result of the recent technological
developments.
 Helping the customer successfully transition to the digital communication world.
 Innovating continuously, conceiving and implementing new ideas that enhance the
customer’s business process.

Marketing Objectives
India has a huge potential with a 15.24 million strong Internet subscribers at the end of Dec-09,
registering a quarterly growth of 4.21%. Apart from this, 149.03 million wireless subscribers have
subscribed to Data services, as reported by the wireless service providers.14

The above statistics are reinforced by statistics of 81 million Internet users, a market penetration of
only 7% and an Internet user growth of 1,520% over 2000-09.15

In view of the above statistics, we propose to achieve the following objectives:

 Increasing market reach from current 30 cities and 150,000 subscribers16 to 150 cities in
India, keeping in view the market opportunities available with a broadband penetration of
less than 1%.

 Develop our proprietary technology and customize services to suit much larger spaces such
as residential neighborhoods and extend our reach beyond smaller spaces such as homes or
offices, while leveraging our cost advantage of using a 5.8 MHz spectrum to deliver quality
service.

 Improve market penetration of our services by being the first movers in the states of
Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh that are home to around 30% of
India’s urban population. Our newly acquired pan-India BWA (Broadband Wireless Access)
license is a step in the same direction.

 Engage customers to help them transition to the broadband Internet platform for all
communication purposes.

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 37


 Engage business partners by providing support and understanding each other’s operations
to help in better integration of the business processes, delivery of better solution to the
customer and higher satisfaction for the business partner and the company.

Values

Customer Delight
We believe that customer satisfaction is the final measure of our success and so our business
process aims at understanding and catering to the customer.

Intellectual Assets
We recognize the importance of employees as the most important assets a company can possess
and so taking care of this resource is important. We ensure an environment that is conducive to
attracting, retaining and nurturing the best minds and making work a joyful experience.

Hierarchy of Ideas
We believe in the ascendancy of ideas. A great idea is always worth the hard work and time. We are
constantly looking for a new paradigm in the digital world that captures the imagination of the
generation and delivers value to our customers.

Integrity and Transparency


While building long-term relations with the customer and fulfilling our obligations towards the
shareholders and the society, we deem these virtues of ethics and sincerity are as important as the
value we deliver.

Strategy – Product
Customer Targets
While many different bases can be used to find the right kind of customer some important factors
are:

1. Sales Potential - The more a target has the capacity to consume from the product
offering, the more valuable it is.

2. Growth Potential - The growth scope is an important criterion in determining the value
of the target group.

3. Lifetime Value - The more the consumption of the service the target is expected to make
over its lifetime, the more importance the target should be given.

4. Retention Potential - The more likely the target can be economically maintained, the
more attention the target should be paid.

5. Responsiveness - The more a target evinces interest in the company's marketing efforts,
the more easily the sale can be made to the target.

Based on the above, the company should increase its target range to include all possible Internet
users. It has to start acting as if its competitors are not only other Internet service provider but all
internet access providers, like Telecom sector which provide Blackberry, GPRS, 3G services.

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 38


Strategy – Marketing Communications Programmes
Integrated Marketing Communication Programmes
Integrated Marketing Communications is a term used to describe a holistic approach to marketing
communication. It aims to ensure consistency of message and the complementary use of media. The
concept includes online and offline marketing channels. A company develops its integrated
marketing communication program using all the elements of the marketing mix (product, price,
place, and promotion).

The need of moving onto the an Integrated Marketing Communication Program is not only the
consistency and wide coverage that it offers but the exponential increase in the avenues available to
the consumer today to keep informed. This combined with the fragmentation of mass markets
implies that there is no singular strategy to pursue when it comes to reaching the consumer.
Knowing that the consumer is availing these varied forms of information dissemination, it is only
logical for a business to exploit all of these possible media and look for further options.

We now take a look at what all-different approaches can be used to project the product onto the
consumer.

Offline Channels
i. Traditional Print (newspaper, magazine) – Given the wide spread reach of the print media
and the new relatively undeveloped markets of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh East and West,
Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh that Tikona will target in the near future, this form of
marketing communication offers cost-effectiveness and breadth.

ii. Radio – The wide dissemination of product knowledge required is fulfilled by this medium in
a cost-effective manner. The broad range and easy availability of radio helps to cover a
larger target audience.

iii. Television – This media remains the staple of the marketing communication strategy cause
of the convincing, seemingly tangible experience it offers. The company would use television
as the main driver of the marketing communication program. With other medium
supporting it.

iv. Billboards – A conventional marketing medium, with high visibility potential, that can be
easily used by the company to generate awareness about the product.

v. Industry Relations – Given that a part of the company’s plans is to have businesses as
customers, it makes sense for the company to build relations with companies as it would
have dual advantage of:

a. Increased business opportunity

b. Marketing boost because of enrolling big business as customers.

vi. Public Relations – Improving upon public relations is a good way of increasing
company/brand visibility thereby increasing awareness about product and services offered.
Organizing events that fulfill corporate social responsibility are one way of establishing
positive public relations.

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 39


Online Channels
i. Online advertisement – The increased penetration of Internet had meant that potential
consumers of the service being offered are already using the Internet and this provides a
huge opportunity to interact and inform potential customers of new products and establish
online presence of the company and the product. Moreover, given that the future
interaction with the customer, once the customer is enrolled, and the delivery channel will
be online having an online presence right from the start makes good sense.

ii. E-marketing campaigns or programs – Promoting the product online through


interactive/participative events also helps in establishing the product as a viable alternative
in the market.

iii. Blogs, Micro-blogging – Advent of the current times, the micro-blogging concept has altered
the marketing landscape by making delivery of information easier for the marketer while at
the same time increasing the number of people to whom the message is delivered.

iv. Internet Radio and Internet TV – At a fraction of the cost of marketing through Television
and Radio, this way of marketing helps reserve some space in potential customers’ mind so
that the brand is always a part of the consideration set of the potential customer.

Channel Strategy
The current channel strategy is very difficult to manage for Tikona and might as well be the source of
increased customer complaints on equipment and after sales support. The heavy dependence on
Channel Partner needs to be reduced.

Such reduced dependence will improve the overall quality that Tikona provides but at the cost of
increased operational cost. Hence, the dependency could either be reduced over a longer period of
time or supervision of the Channel partners made more effective. In the absence of quality, the
overall brand image might be affected unfavorably.

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 40


Exhibits

Exhibit 1 List of ISP players in India with Class A license from TRAI

Date ISP of
Sl No Name of Company Category ISP Licence No.
license

1. Astro Network India Pvt. Ltd. A 820-285/99-LR 1/17/2000


2. BG Broadband India Pvt Ltd (YOU TELECOM) A 820-699/2003-LR 5/4/2003
3. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.(BSNL) A 820-517/2000-LR 10/1/2000
4. Bharti Airtel Ltd A 820- 58/98-LR 3/3/1999
5. Comsat Max Ltd. A 820-263/1999-LR 12/24/1999
6. Data Access (India) Ltd. A 820-433/2000-LR 6/1/2000
7. Data Infosys Ltd. A 820-383/2000-LR 4/17/2000

8. Dishnet Wireless Ltd. A 820-44 /98-LR 12/23/1998

9. Karuturi Telecom Private Limited A 820-458/2000-LR 7/14/2000


(Earlier M/s Estel Communications Private Limited)
10. Reliance Wimax Limited A 820-391/2000-LR 5/4/2000
(Earlier M/s Gateway Systems (India) Limited)
11. GTL Ltd. A 820-82 /98-LR 12/9/1998
12. Gujarat Info Petro Limited A 820-559/2001-LR 5/16/2001
13. Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers Company Ltd. A 820-457/2000-LR 8/8/2000
14. Hathway Cable & Datacom. Pvt. Ltd. A 820-222/99-LR 9/13/1999
15. HCL.Infinet Ltd A 820-377/2000-LR 4/13/2000
16. Hughes Communications India Limited A 820-293/2000-LR 2/24/2000

(Earlier M/s Hughes Escorts Communications Limited)

17. M/s BT Global Communications India Private Limited A 820-666/2002-LR 12/20/2002

(i2i Enterprise Limited)


18. Indusind Media & Communications Limited A 820-5 /98-LR 12/4/1998
[ Earlier M/s In2Cable (India) Limited ]
19. L&T Finance Ltd. A 820-274/99-LR 1/8/2000
20. Millennium Telecom. Ltd. A 820-376/2000-LR 10/6/2000
21. VSNL Internet Services Ltd A 820-95 /98-LR 1/5/1999
22. (EARLIER M/s DIL Internet Ltd.)
23. Railtel Corporation of India Ltd A 820-594/2001-LR 2/8/2002
24. Reach Network India Pvt. Ltd. A 820-546/2000-LR 2/5/2001
25. M/s SIFY Technologies Limited A 820-49 /98-LR 11/12/1998
26. (M/s SIFY Limited)
27. Software Technology Parks of India A 820-74 /98-LR 1/15/1999
28. SwiftMail Communications Ltd. A 820-219/99-LR 10/12/1999
29. Tata Internet Services Ltd. A 820-201/99-LR 10/11/1999
VSNL Broadband Ltd. (Earlier Tata Power Broadband
30. A 820-769/2004-LR 3/31/2004
Company Ltd.)
31. Trak Online Net (India) Pvt. Ltd. A 820-278/99-LR 2/23/2000

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 41


32. Tulip Telecom Limited A 820-820/04-LR 11/2/2004
33. (Earlier M/s Tulip IT Services Limited)
34. Tata Communications Limited A 820-7 /98-LR 1/25/1999
35. (Earlier M/s Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited)
36. ERNET A 820-96 /98-LR 1/15/1999
37. Essel Shyam Communication Ltd. A 820-536/2000-LR 12/27/2000
38. Gas Authority of India Ltd. A 820-634/2002-LR 6/27/2002
39. Global One (India) Pvt. Ltd. A 820-739/2003-LR 11/25/2003
40. HCL Comnet Systems & Services Ltd. A 820-144/99-LR 12/2/1999
41. Information Technologies(India) Ltd. A 820-296/2000-LR 2/24/2000
42. DCT Networks Private Limited A 820-802/04-LR 11/2/2004
43. (Earlier M/s Manipal Software Private Limited)
44. National Stock exchange of India Ltd. A 820-759/2003-LR 1/29/2004
45. Nelco Ltd. A 820-789/04-LR 7/14/2004
46. Netkracker Ltd. A 820-527/2000-LR 10/31/2000
47. Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd A 820-709/2003-LR 5/29/2003
48. Primenet Global Ltd. A 820-415/2000-LR 5/17/2000
49. Punjab Wireless Systems Ltd. A 820-27 /98-LR 1/29/1999
50. Reliance Communications Infrastructure Ltd. A 820-43 /98-LR 11/9/1998
Reliance Engineering Associates Pvt. Ltd. (Earlier
51. A 820-479/2000-LR 9/5/2000
Broadband Solutions Pvt Ltd)
52. RPG Infotech Ltd. A 820-108 /98-LR 2/12/1999
53. Shivlink Services Pvt.Ltd. A 820-147/98-LR 3/22/1999
54. M/s Wire & Wireless (India) Limited A 820-56 /98-LR 12/7/1998
55. [Earlier M/s Siti Cable Network Limited]
56. Softeng Computers Private Ltd. A 820-806/04-LR 12/2/2004
57. Punj Lloyd Ltd (Old name Spectra Net Ltd.) A 820-259/2000-LR 12/10/1999
58. Tata Teleservices Ltd. A 820-463/2000-LR 2000/10/18 (*)
59. Wipro Ltd. A 820-67 /98-LR 12/4/1998
60. IOL Telecom Pvt Ltd A 820-965/07-LR 10/25/2007
61. S Tel Private Limited A 820-962/07-LR 11/2/2007
62. Infotel Broadband Services Private Limited A 820-964/07-LR 11/15/2007
63. Netmagic Solutions Private Limited A 820-947/06-LR 11/19/2007
64. Noida Software Technology Park Limited A 820-872/05-LR 11/19/2007
65. Ortel Communications Limited A 820-974/07-LR 11/26/2007
66. Cordia L T Communications Private Limited A 820-971/07-LR 1/4/2008
67. Exatt Technologies Private Limited A 820-977/07-LR 1/9/2008
68. IKF Technologies Limited A 820-980/07-LR 1/11/2008
69. Opto Network Private Limited A 820-981/07-LR 1/17/2008

70. AT&T Global Network Services India Private Limited A 820-985/07-LR 1/24/2008

71. Broadband Pacenet (India) Private Limited A 820-984/07-LR 1/25/2008


72. DEN Networks Limited A 820-990/07-LR 2/6/2008
(Earlier M/s DEN Digital Entertainment Networks
73.
Private Limited)
74. Limras Eronet Broadband Service Private Limited A 820-982/07-LR 2/8/2008

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 42


75. M/s Viva Communications Private Limited A 820-973/07-LR 2/8/2008
(Earlier Mylai Karpagambal Information Systems
76.
Private Limited)
77. S&A Internet Services Private Limited A 820-989/07-LR 2/28/2008
78. Financial Technologies Communications Limited A 820-993/08-LR 3/7/2008
79. RI Networks Private Limited A 820-997/08-LR 3/17/2008
80. Tatanet Services Limited A 820-952/07-LR 4/16/2008
81. D-Vois Broadband Private Limited A 820-991/07-LR 4/23/2008
82. Newgen Communications Private Limited A 820-1002/08-LR 4/25/2008
83. Tayana Digital Private Limited A 820-1003/08-LR 4/30/2008
84. Devas Multimedia Private Limited A 820-936/06-LR 5/2/2008
85. Softcell Technologies Limited A 820-954/07-LR 6/23/2008
86. (Earlier M/s Novanet Technologies Limited)
87. Citycom Networks Private Limited A 820-1016/08-LR 8/6/2008
88. (Earlier M/s Citicom Networks Private Limited)
89. Tikona Digital Networks Private Limited A 820-1019/08-LR 9/9/2008
89. Etisalat DB Telecom Private Limited A 820-1028/08-LR 10/10/2008
90. (Earlier Swan Telecom Private Limited)
91. Zylog Systems (India) Limited A 820-1014/08-LR 12/3/2008
92. Spice Innovative Technologies Private Limited A 820-1032/08-LR 12/8/2008
93. S V Teletech Private Limited A 820-1025/08-LR 12/12/2008
94. Atria Convergence Technologies Private Limited A 820-1007/08-LR 12/19/2008
95. Verizon Communications India Private Limited A 820-619/08-LR 1/16/2009
96. O-Zone Networks Private Limited A 820-1035/08-LR 2/4/2009
97. M/s SingTel Global (India) Private Limited A 820-1031/08-LR 3/5/2009
98. Equant Network Services India Private Limited A 820-1050/09-LR 9/23/2009
99. Pipetel Communications Private Limited A 820-1069/09-LR 12/3/2009
100. Vodafone Essar Spacetel Limited A 820-1051/09-LR 12/11/2009
101. Smart IT-Concepts (Nagpur) Private Limited A 820-1059/09-LR 3/30/2010
102. Idea Cellular Limited A 820-1078/09-LR 4/28/2010

Exhibit 2 Attached in soft copy of the document are the financial reports of Reliance and Airtel

Airtel_Published_res RCOM_4thConsoliate
ults_Q4.pdf d_09-10.pdf

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 43


References

1. Tikona Digital Network, “Vision & Mission” Tikona Digital Network,


http://www.tikona.in/pagedetail.php?contentid=13&mid=9
2. Tikona Digital Network, “Values” Tikona Digital Network,
http://www.tikona.in/pagedetail.php?contentid=14&mid=10
3. Theodore Levitt, “Marketing Myopia”, Harvard Business Review,
http://hbr.org/2004/07/marketing-myopia/ar/1
4. Tikona Digital Network, “Products & Services” Tikona Digital Network,
http://www.tikona.in/pagedetail.php?contentid=48&mid=13
5. “Tikona Digital Networks expands service network”,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_in_India#cite_note-internetworldstats.com-
36FirefoxHTML\Shell\Open\Command
6. TRAI Indicator report - The Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators
(October - December 2009) – Published 6th April 2010, www.trai.gov.in
7. Internet World Stats, “Top 58 Countries with the highest Internet penetration rate” Internet
World Stats, http://www.internetworldstats.com/

8. “Broadband Internet Access”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband_Internet_access


9. Express Computer, “Tikona Digital Networks expands service network” Express
Computer,http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20100301/news03.shtml
10. http://www.pluggd.in/internet-usage-in-india-market-statistics-297/
11. http://www.indiabroadband.net/india-broadband-telecom-news/11169-some-statistics-
about-internet-users-india.html
12. http://www.tikona.in/pagedetail.php?contentid=19&mid=14
13. ‘Principles of Marketing’ by Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong, Prafulla Y. Agnihotri & Ehsan Ul
Haque
14. TRAI Annual Report 2008-09, “The Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators October
- December 2009”, TRAI Annual Report 2008-09,
http://www.trai.gov.in/traiannualreport.asp
15. Internet World Stats, “ASIA INTERNET USAGE AND POPULATION”, Internet World Stats,
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats3.htm
16. Livemint.com & The Wall Street Journal LOUNGE, “Tikona to go RIL way on BWA tech”,
Livemint.com & The Wall Street Journal LOUNGE,
http://www.livemint.com/2010/07/05220657/Tikona-to-go-RIL-way-on-BWA-te.html

Marketing of Tikona Digital Network Page 44

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