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Brand Image Measurement of

AIRTEL
A report Submitted to

Prof. S. Govindrajan

In partial fulfilment of the requirements of the course

Product & Brand Management

On 20.08.2009 By Budhaditya Banerjee Govind Prasad Sahu Sandeep Shah Sahill Shaha

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

SL. NO. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

CONTENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY HISTORY & EVOLUTION - AIRTEL INSTRUMENTS OF DATA COLLECTION WITH RATIONALE BRAND ASSET VALUATOR MODEL PRESENTAION OF FINDING OF BAV LADDERING BIBLIOGRAPHY

PAGE NO. 03 05 12 13 28 43 53

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Airtel is a brand of telecommunication services in India and Sri Lanka owned and operated by Bharti Airtel. It is the largest cellular services provider in India in terms of number of subscribers. Services are offered under the brand name Airtel: Mobile Services (usingGSM Technology), Broadband & Telephone Services (Fixed line, Internet Connectivity (DSL) and Leased Line), Long Distance Services and Enterprise Services (Telecommunications consulting for corporate). It has presence in all the 23 circles of the country and covers 71% of the current population.

Airtel in its course of time had a particular kind of positioning and they repositioned themselves to change their brand image and increase the customer base. Our project would study Airtel s brand image amongst mobile users. To study this we took 2 methods of evaluating.

y y

Brand Asset Valuator model, a quantitative technique and, Laddering Technique, a qualitative technique

The BAV model measures the value of a brand along four dimensions - Differentiation, Relevance, Esteem, and Knowledge. Differentiation and Relevance build up to Brand Strength, while Esteem and Knowledge are used to calculate Brand Stature. For the BAV analysis, sample of 40 mobile services consumers was surveyed through a questionnaire tool. Brand Airtel performed exceedingly well on all the fronts measured through the BAV analysis. Brand Airtel topped on the brand stature parameter with a score of 600 and jointly topped on the brand vitality parameter with Vodafone with a score of 550. Now, brand stature consists of two components: Brand Knowledge (Airtel jointly topped the survey amongst six mobile service operator brands with Vodafone) & Brand Esteem (Airtel emerged as the sole winner). Similarly, Brand Vitality consists of two components: Brand Relevance (Airtel again emerged as the leader in this category) & Brand Differentiation (Airtel ranked as the number two brand and followed Vodafone on this parameter). Thus

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from the above results, we can conclude that the need identification has been excellent (courtesy the Relevance score), and the efforts undertaken to chart out a clear and separate image in the minds of the consumer have paid rich dividends (courtesy the Differentiation score). This has contributed to the high vitality of the brand. Also the brand awareness regarding Airtel and the consumer s/user s association with the brand has shown excellent results (courtesy the Knowledge scores) backed by the brand s positive image, boosting the pride, the attachment, and the ego of the users (courtesy the Esteem scores). This has led to high stature for the brand. Thus Airtel has been mapped to be in the quadrant of a Leader in the power grid. The findings from the above exercise were clubbed with the ones from laddering. Laddering refers to an in-depth, one-on-one interviewing technique used to develop an understanding of how consumers translate the attributes of products into meaningful associations with respect to self. Laddering provides an association of networks between the attributes, consequences arising out of them and the values inherent in them to represent combinations of elements that serve as the basis for distinguishing between and among products in a given product class. Eight depth interviews were taken to understand the values consumers attach to a mobile services operator. At the end of the laddering exercise, the group arrived at four values through various combinations of attributes and consequences. The four values are-value for money, self esteem, sense of belonging and emotional connect with the brand and its concepts. Hence future product strategies and decisions should be consciously built around these core values, as these are the ones for which consumer/us er shop for a particular product/brand. Attributes and consequences only serve as enablers towards attaining certain values.

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HISTORY AND EVOLUTION-AIRTEL


Airtel was started by Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, a graduate from Ludhiana (PUNJAB). Earlier he was the owner of the Local telecom company Beetel. Afterwards he planned to expand his company at the national level and the consequence is Airtel, what we see today. Bharti Airtel is India s largest telecommunications company by subscriber base, which stood at 85.7 million in December 2008, and total revenues, which were Rs.270 billion in 2007/08. Airtel is one of Asia s leading providers of telecommunication services with presence in all the 22 licensed jurisdictions (also known as Telecom Circles) in India, an d in Sri Lanka. It served an aggregate of 96,649,487 customers as of March 31, 2009; of whom 93,923,248 subscribe to GSM services and 2,726,239 use Telemedia Services either for voice and/or broadband access delivered through DSL. It is the largest wireles s services provider in the country, based on the number of subscribers as of March 31, 2009. It also offered an integrated suite of telecom solutions to our enterprise customers, in addition to providing long distance connectivity both nationally and inter nationally. It had recently for ayed into media by launching the DTH and IPTV Services. All these services are rendered under a unified brand Airtel. The Company also deploys, owns and manages passive infrastructure pertaining to telecom operations under i ts subsidiary Bharti Infratel Limited. Bharti Infratel owns 42% of Indus Towers Limited. Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers are the top two providers of passive infrastructure services in India.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, the founder

chairman of Bharti Enterprises (who owns Airtel), is today,

the most famous Face of the telecom sector in India. He symbolizes the adage that success comes to those who dream big , and he has worked assiduously to deliver it. His strong entrepreneurial instincts gave him a unique flair for sensing new business opportunities. In the early years, Bharti established itself as a supplier of basic telecom Equipment. His true calling came in the mid 1990s when the government opened up the sector and allowed

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private players to provide telecom services. Telecom giant Bharti Airtel is the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises. The Bharti Group has a diverse business portfolio and has created global brands in the telecommunication s sector. Bharti has recently forayed into retail business as Bharti Retail Pvt. Ltd. under an MOU with Wal-Mart for the cash & carry business. It has successfully launched an international venture with EL Rothschild Group to export fresh agri-products exclusively to markets in Europe and USA and has launched Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd under a Joint venture with AXA, world leader in financial protection and wealth management.

VISION:
By 2010 Airtel will be the most admired brand in India :

Loved by more customers Targeted by top talent Benchmarked by more business.

KEY MILESTONES:
y Date of Incorporation-------------------------------------------------------------- July 07, 1995 y First private operator to offer fixed line telephony ---------------------------- June 04, 1998 y Became a public limited company in India ------------------------------------ February 18, 2002 y First Telecom Company to have an all India mobile footprint y (Presence in all 23 telecom circles in India ) ------------------------------------ March 30, 2005

COMPANY HISTORY:
Each year of Airtel s existence has been marked by historic and far reaching milestones including many firsts, all of which have been stepping stones to their success and performance. A brief history of the Company s major events is:

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1995-96 y Mobile services under the brand name Airtel launched for the first time in Delhi and Himachal Pradesh.

1997-1998 y The first private telecom service provider to obtain a license for landline telephony in Madhya Pradesh. y Incorporation of Bharti BT VSAT Ltd. For providing VSAT solutions across India and Bharti BT Internet Ltd.

1999-2000 y The largest private sector telecom operator in India after acquiring JT Mobile to provide cellular services in Punjab, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. y Acquires Skycell, Chennai, and expands its south Indian foot print Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) acquires Telecom Italia s equity stake in the Company.

2001-2002 y India One, India s first private sector national and international long distance service launched eastern foray through acquisition and new licenses for eight new circles across India. y y y India s first private submarine cable landing station in a joint venture with SingTel. Initial Public offering through India s first 100% book -building issue. First private operator to offer basic telephone services in Haryana Delhi Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

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2003-2004 y y Joined the US $1 billion revenue club . Strategic partnerships with IBM and Ericsson for outsourcing of the company s core IT and network activities. y Acquires a controlling stake in Hexacom and becomes the leading mobile operator in Rajasthan and holds a license to offer services in the northeast. y y First private operator to launch mobile services in Jammu and Kashmir. Founding member of the Bridge Mobile Alliance, a consortium of seven leading mobile operators in the region.

2005-2006 y y All-India foot print with the launch of mobile services in Assam. Becomes India s largest integrated private operator based on the total customer base

2006-2008 y y y Profit crosses US $ billion. Receives license for providing 2G and 3G mobile services in Sri Lanka. Launch of Airtel call home service, a calling card service for various countries aimed at the Indian Diaspora. y y Strategic partnership with Google, enabling search through mobile phones. Strategic tie-up with Microsoft and becomes the first telecom operator to offer Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 technology. y Facility Based operator license in Singapore, enabling the company to operate international carrier facilities from Singapore. y Joins international consortia of leading telecom companies to build 3 high bandwidth submarine cables AAG, I-ME-WE AND Unity.

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Receives US $ 1.275 billion investment from leading international investors in Bharti Infratel, a subsidiary established with the aim to provide passive infrastructure services to all mobile services operators in India

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sunil Bharti Mittal ------------------ ---Chairman and Managing Director Manoj Kohli -----------------------------Joint Managing Director Akhil Gupta ------------------------------Non Executive Director Chua Sock Koong -----------------------Non Executive Director Paul O Sullivan --------------------------Non Executive Director Quah Kung Yang ------------------------Non Executive Director Rajan Bharti Mittal ----------------------Non Executive Director Rakesh Bharti Mittal --------------------Non Executive Director Craig Ehrlish -----------------------------Independent Non Executive Director Ajay Lal ----------------------------------Independent Non Executive Director Arun Bharat Ram -----------------------Independent Non Executive Director Bashir Abdulla Currimjee -------------Independent Non Executive Director Mauro Sentinelli ------------------------Independent Non Executive Director N.Kumar ---------------------------------Independent Non Executive Director Nikesh Arora ----------------------------Independent Non Executive Director Pulak Chandan Prasad -----------------Independent Non Executive Director

FACT SHEET:

Name Bharti Airtel Limited.

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Business Description Provides GSM mobile services in all the 22 telecom circles in India, and was the first private operator to have an all India presence. Provides telemedia services (fixed line and broadband services through DSL) in 95 cities in India.

Established July 07, 1995, as a Public Limited Company

Proportionate Revenue Rs. 369,615 million (year ended March 31, 2009 -Audited) Rs. 270,250 million (year ended March 31, 2008 -Audited) As per US GAAP Accounts

Proportionate EBITDA Rs. 151,678 million (year ended March 31, 2009 - Audited) Rs. 113,715 million (year ended March 31, 2008 - Audited) As per US GAAP Accounts

Shares in Issue 1,898,239,796 as at March 31, 2009

Listings The Stock Exchange, Mumbai (BSE) The National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE)

Customer Base 93,923,248 GSM mobile and 2,726,239 Telemedia Customers (status as on March 31, 2009) Operational Network

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Provides GSM mobile services in all the 22 telecom circles in India, and was the first private operator to have an all India presence. Provides telemedia services (fixed line) in 95 cities in India.

Registered Office Bharti Airtel Limited (A Bharti Enterprise) Aravali Crescent, 1, Nelson Mandela Road, Vasant Kunj, Phase II, New Delhi 110 070, India

Tel.No.: +91 11 4266 6400 Fax No.: +91 11 4166 6137

AIRTEL SERVICES:

Wireless services y y 2G Rural Market

Telemedia Services y y y Fixed Line Broadband DTH (Media)

Enterprise Services y y Carriers Corporate

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INSTRUMENTS OF DATA COLLECTION WITH RATIONALE


Apart from the Brand Asset Valuator (BAV) Model, we have taken Reynolds and Gutman s Laddering Method. We have chosen a qualitative model above quantitative methods like Aaker s Brand Personality Model and Kapferer s Brand Prism. The rationale behind the decision is that when we purchase any brand, most of the time the decision is not rationale, rather emotional. A qualitative research is more effective to determine the emotional influence behind one associating himself/herself with a specific br and. Quantitative approach is more structured than a qualitative method (which is unstructured). Thus gives the researcher the whole universe to work with. For the BAV model we used a structured questionnaire. This is to give the research a direction and make sure that the outcome does not go out of the context. Each question is designed keeping in mind the four dimensions of the BAV model and the general at tributes applicable to watches. Each question, therefore, tests one or more dimension (Differentiation, Relevance, Esteem and Knowledge). For the survey, we have taken a sample size of 40. The key criteria of selection of the sample were the age and education qualification. The sample fell in th e age bracket of 22 minimum qualification is graduation. In the laddering method, 8 interviews were taken. Of these all the 8 interviews were considered for analysis. Here as well, a judgment sample of Airtel users was considered to understand the values associated with the selection and realisation of services from mobile services operators. 55. The

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BRAND ASSET VALUATOR MODEL


MEASURE AIRTEL S BRAND IMAGE USING THE YOUNG AND RUBICAM BAV MODEL : The Brand Asset Valuator (BAV) is a database of consumer perception of brands created and managed by Brand Asset Consulting, a division of Young & Rubicam Brands to provide information to enable firms to improve the marketing decision-making process and to manage brands better. Brand Asset Valuator and BAV also describe the Y&R group managing the database. BAV provides comparative measures of the equity value of thousands of brands across hundreds of different categories, as well as a set of strategic brand management tools for planning brand extensions, joint branding ventures, and other strategies designed to maintain and grow brand value. BAV has now been linked to a unique set of financial analytics, which allows determining a brand s contribution to a company s intangi ble value. There are four key components of brand health in BAV the four pillars. Each pillar is derived from

various measures that relate to different aspects of consumers brand perceptions and that together trace the progression of a brand s development. These four components for determining brand value are

1. Differentiation:Differentiation is the ability for a brand to be distinguished from its competitors. A brand should be as unique as possible. Brand health is built, and maintained by offering a set of differentiating promises to consumers. And by delivering those promises to leverage value. 2. Relevance:Relevance is the actual and perceived importance of the brand to a large consumer market segment. This gauges the personal appropriateness of a brand to consumers and is strongly tied to household penetration (the percentage of households that purchase the brand).

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3. Esteem:Esteem is the perceived quality and consumer perceptions about the growing or declining popularity of a brand. Does the brand keep its promises? The consumer s response to a marketer s brand building activity is driven by his perception of two factors: quality and popularity. Both vary by country and culture. 4. Knowledge:Knowledge is the extent of the consumer s awareness of the brand and understanding its identity. The awareness levels about the brand, and what it means, shows the intimacy that consumers share with the brand. True knowledge of the brand comes through building of the brand.

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How Brands Are Built

Four Primary Aspects:

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Brand Strength: Differentiation and relevance taken together say a lot about a Brand s strength (brand vitality). These two pillars point to the brand s future value, rather than just reflecting its past.

 When Differentiation is greater than Relevance, the brand has room to grow. This is a
healthy pattern.

 When Relevance is significantly greater than Differentiation, the brand has become
commoditized. Its Uniqueness has faded and price has become the primary reason to buy. This is an unhealthy pattern.

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Brand Stature Esteem and knowledge together create Brand stature, which is a report card on a brand s past performance and which determines the current power of the brand.

 When Esteem is greater than Knowledge, and the consumer says, I d like to get to know
you better. Consumers have motivation to find out more about your brand. This is a healthy pattern for the brand.

 When Knowledge is greater than Esteem, consumers are saying, I know you more than I
like you. The brand has become too familiar and consumers have no motivation to listen to you. Too much Knowledge has become a dangerous thing.

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Mapping a Brand s Life: the Power Grid

BAV uses a two-dimensional plot to measure Brand Strength and Brand Stature. The strength is measured on the vertical y-axis [Differentiation,

Relevance] and stature is measured on the horizontal x-axis [Esteem, Knowledge]. The Power Grid provides a model for mapping and diagnosing the life of a brand. New brands begin in the lower left quadrant with low where strength is

strength, low stature. As the brand develops, it rises to the upper left quadrant

significantly higher than stature. It is here where niche brands and brands with unrealized potential reside. This is high margin territory. In order to maximize shareholder value, brands should be strategically leveraged to move to the upper right quadrant, where powerful leadership brands reside. When brands get into trouble, the first thing to erode is Differentiation, causing leadership brands to decline. This loss in Differentiation reduces the ability to extend the brand across new consumer and market segments. As a result, there is a huge loss in intangible value.

Advantages of Young & Rubicam s Brand Asset Valuator

 Brand Asset Valuator is an important tool to assess a brand s current achievements and stature.
It is even more powerful when the future potential of a brand can also be measured. Y&R s Brand Asset Valuator offers this opportunity.

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 Combining exhaustive amounts of consumer data with a proven model of brand -building, Brand
Asset Valuator anticipates future operating earnings and operating margins. This can enhance the marketing-decision process in a variety of substantive ways.

 Brand Asset Valuator can help managers understand marketplace opportunities and the types
of risk that go with them. It can provide a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour: for example, shedding light on reasons why some segments are willing to pay a higher price for a highly differentiated brand.

 Brand Asset Valuator stands apart from other brand study aids in a number of ways. It is
predictive, focusing on leading indicators instead of lagging. It is exh austive in every way, size and scope. Most importantly, it evaluates a brand in the entire world of brands, not in its category.

 Brand Asset Valuator also helps to determine a brand s elasticity and helps to explore
beneficiary brand alliances.

 Lastly, Brand Asset Valuator is not only just useful for creating brands. It is useful for managing
brands in the long term through ups and downs.

Disadvantages of Young & Rubicam s Brand asset Valuator

 The major disadvantage associated with Young & Rubicam s Brand asset Valuator is that it is
proprietary in nature and can be employed only by Young and Rubicam.

 Another disadvantage associated with BAV is that the measures underlying the four factors may
not be relevant across a wide range of product categories and thus these factors tend to be abstract in nature and might not be related directly to product attributes or benefits and more specific marketing concerns. Nevertheless, the BAV model represents a landmark study in terms of marketers ability to better understand what drives top brands and where their brands fit in with other brands.

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PBM PROJECT PART 2QUESTIONNAIRE


BRAND KNOWLEDGE: Q.1.What is the first brand that comes to your mind when we speak about mobile service operators? (Rationale: The reason behind choosing this question is to measure the Top -of-Mind recall on part of the consumers. The brand that gets listed as an answer to this particular question can be said to have a Top -of-Mind recall on part of the consumers; hence the brand occupies the maximum mind-share, thus awareness is high). Q.2. Relate the following celebrities/characters with the mobile services operator brands: i. M.S. Dhoni ii. Kajol iii. Hrithik Roshan iv. Zoozoo/puppy vi. A.R. Rahman vii. Deepika Padukone (Rationale: Getting popular celebrities to endorse a brand is a conscious brand building exercise, one that aims at connecting with the emotions of people who connect with a particular celebrity. Also characters like Zoozoo or the puppy come up due to supe rlative ideas and execution of the ideas through well conceptualised advertisements. This question is to test whether the respondents are aware of the brand ambassadors of a particular

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brand, a question that will enable us to capture awareness levels of co nsumers. This was to again concentrate on the recall, unaided in this case ). Q.3. Identify the tag line of the following brands: i. Airtel ii. Vodafone iii. Reliance iv. Aircel v. Tata Indicom vi. BSNL (Rationale: Again, the tag line of a brand is a brand s identity and is an integral part of any brand building exercise. The familiarity of respondents with a particular tag line of a brand is a measure of the awareness level of consumers when it comes to the bran d. Again we went in for unaided recall in this case, answers to which led us to insights regarding brand knowledge). Q.4. Identify the colour of the logo for the following brands: i. Airtel ii. Vodafone iii. Reliance iv. Aircel v. Tata Indicom vi. BSNL

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(Rationale: The logo and its descript forms an i ntegral part of any brand and is the one through which people identify the brand. The respondents ability to answer the above mentioned question would translate into an ability to connect with and identify a brand. Thus the responses generated will help the team in tracking awareness level of the users in relation to a specific brand).

BRAND ESTEEM: Q.5. Rank the following mobile service operators as your preferred brand (rank from 1 -6 in terms of preference, 1 being the most preferred and 6 being the least): i. Airtel ii. Vodafone iii. Reliance iv. Aircel v. Tata Indicom vi. BSNL (Rationale: In this particular question, the rankings assigned can be traced to the image of a particular brand and hence a superior ranking would translate into a brand being regarded highly by the consumer which can be related to esteem).

Q.6. Which brand has a higher perceived quality in terms of the services on offer (rank from 1-6 in terms of preference, 1 being the most preferred and 6 being the least): i. Airtel

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ii. Vodafone iii. Reliance iv. Aircel v. Tata Indicom vi. BSNL (Rationale: Again, a higher ranking in this particular question would translate into a superior level of association with the brand and hence shall directly po int to the level of esteem of a user with the mobile services brand). Q.7. Would you recommend the below mentioned brands to your relatives/friends? i. Airtel ii. Vodafone iii. Reliance iv. Aircel v. Tata Indicom vi. BSNL Answer as: a. Not at all, b. Don t Know, c. May be, d. Definitely (Rationale: If a particular brand scores high on this parameter, that is, the results are skewed towards Definitely as an answer, then the user has a high lev el of association with the brand and takes pride from the association leading him/her to recommend the b rand to others; hence the level of esteem in relation with the brand is high).

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Q.8. Relate the following qualities with the brands (Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance, Aircel, Tata Indicom, BSNL). i. Dependable ii. Prestigious iii. Aggressive iv. Youthful v. Friendly vi. Others (specify) vii. None (Rationale: The above mentioned words would help the group gauge the perception of the consumers and their feeling towards a certain brand . Also the brand personality shall evolve from answers to this question. If the persona is positive, we can relate that to high esteem and shall also help to define the brand persona ).

Q. 9. Which brand will lead the 3G revolution? i. Airtel ii. Vodafone iii. Reliance iv. Aircel v. Tata Indicom vi. BSNL (Rationale: Again this question demands respondents to predict the quality of services that they might derive from 3G revolution happening in the near future. The brand that emerges as a leader for this question eventually has better perceived quality and image, leading to higher esteem being associated with the brand ).

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BRAND RELEVANCE:

Q.10. In accordance with the past and present experiences, which brands do you consider being the most appropriate to satisfy your personal needs? i. Airtel ii. Vodafone iii. Reliance iv. Aircel v. Tata Indicom vi. BSNL (Rationale: Again, the answers should be a pointer, and a clear one at that, of the relevance of the brands to the specific needs of the respondents in the sample. Hence shall give us an idea as to which brand can emerge as the one suited to/most relevant to the needs of the mobile users).

Q.11. Rate the brands (Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance, Aircel, Tata Indicom, BSNL) on the following parameters (rank on a scale of 1-5; 1 being the worst and 5 being the best ): i. Network Coverage ii. Call iii. SMS iv. Call center Support v. Internet Facility

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vi. Rates vii. Other Values Added Services (Rationale: Some of the major needs for using a mobile connection were identified by the group. On the above needs the relevance of the various brands chosen were tested. The brand having the highest relevance across most of the above mentioned categories would be the brand that has identified its needs the best and is best satisfying them).

BRAND DIFFERENTIATION: Q.12. Rate the following brands on a scale of 1-5 on the following parameters (with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best): i. GPRS ii. Closed User Group/Friend Circle iii. Promotional offers iv. Customer Care v. Value-added service vi. Innovation vii. Call rates (Rationale: The responses shall clearly indicate to us on whether the brand that we have selected can differentiate itself and cut a clear identity across a clutter of brand, on some of the most sought after services from a mobile services operator).

Q.13. Rate on a scale of 1-5, the following brands on satisfying needs of the following categories: Brands i. Airtel ii. Vodafone

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iii. Reliance iv. Aircel v. Tata Indicom vi. BSNL Categories: i. ii. iii. Family Friends Professionals

(Rationale: The responses emanating from here shall help us identify whether brand Airtel differentiates itself from its competitors in identifying and serving the needs/wants of any one of the specific categories listed above).

SAMPLING PLAN:
Sample size: 40 Age group: 22-55 (both inclusive); includes respondents from Praxis Business School, Kolkata &ITM Business School, Navi Mumbai. Plus one respondent was from Tech Mahindra, Pune. Sampling method: Convenient random sampling Education: All postgraduates or pursuing post-graduation

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PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS FROM BAV


BRAND KNOWLEDGE: We have asked four questions for determining the knowledge of the brand. So each question was given an equal weightage of 25 points. The final outcome of the analysis of these four questions is as below: TATA BRAND TOTAL SCORE RANK 525 1 525 1 100 400 3 66.66 225 6 16.66 250 5 33.33 325 4 50 AIRTEL VODAFONE RELIANCE AIRCEL INDICOM BSNL

PERCENTILE 100

So Airtel ranked one along with Vodafone in terms of brand knowledge. This shows that Airtel as a brand has high awareness among the people and most of them are able to recall it without any aid. In question no.1, we asked the respondent about a brand which comes to their mind when they thing about a mobile service provider. Maximum respondents named the brand Airtel. Thus Airtel has the highest top of the mind recall among the people. The table below shows the result of question 1:

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PERCENTAGE BRAND AIRTEL VODAFONE RELIANCE BSNL IDEA AIRCEL RANK 1 2 3 4 5 6 OF TOTAL 37.50% 27.50% 17.50% 15.00% 2.50% 0.00%

In question no. 2, we asked the respondents to relate the celebrities with the brand they endorse. Here Vodafone turned out to be the winner because of the Zoo -Zoo campaign started recently. The entire sample very easily related the Zoo-Zoo/puppy with the Vodafone brand. Airtel was ranked second along with BSNL with 85% of the respondent relating the two brands with the celebrities endorsing them. This shows that Vodafone has created great awareness with its recent campaign. So Airtel should try and improve its awareness with some innovating idea like the Vodafone. The table below shows the findings of question 2:

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PERCENTAGE BRAND RANK OF TOTAL VODAFONE AIRTEL BSNL TATA 4 INDICOM AIRCEL RELIANCE 5 6 62.50% 40% 80% 1 2 2 100% 85% 85%

In question no. 3, we asked the respondents to recall the taglines of the six brands namely Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance, Aircel, Tata Indicom and Bsnl. Here Reliance turned out to be the winner with 67.50% of the respondents recalling its tagline. Airtel ranked third with 57.5% recalling its tagline. So Airtel needs to work hard and try to increase its awareness in this area. The findings of question 3 are given below: PERCENTAGE BRAND RANK OF TOTAL RELIANCE VODAFONE AIRTEL 1 2 3 67.50% 60% 57.50%

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BSNL AIRCEL TATA

4 5

45% 15%

6 INDICOM

12.50%

In question 4, we asked the respondents about the colour of the logos of different brand. Here Airtel turned out to be the winner with 95% of respondents identifying the colour of its logo i.e. red and white. Thus Airtel has huge awareness among the people in respect to the colour of its logo. The results are given below:

PERCENTAGE BRAND AIRTEL VODAFONE RELIANCE TATA INDICOM BSNL AIRCEL 4 5 5 65% 70% 70% RANK 1 2 3 OF TOTAL 95% 92.50% 75%

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BRAND ESTEEM: We have asked five questions in this section i.e. from question no.5 to question no.9, to determine the brand esteem of Airtel . Each question carried a weightage of 20 points. The final outcome of the analysis of these five questions is given below: TATA BRAND TOTAL SCORE RANK 560 1 480 2 83.33 440 3 66.66 160 6 16.66 260 5 33.33 300 4 50 AIRTEL VODAFONE RELIANCE AIRCEL INDICOM BSNL

PERCENTILE 100

Here Airtel comes out to be the no. 1 brand. This shows that consumers have high regards for the brand. This is a big achievement for Airtel because it has been able to surpass Vodafone which is the world biggest mobil e operator in terms of revenue (source: Wikipedia). In question no.5 we asked the respondents to rank the mobile operators in order of their preference. Airtel shared the no.1 position along with Vodafone. The findings of this question are given in the table below:

BRAND AIRTEL VODAFONE

RANK 1 1

SCORE 197 197

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RELIANCE BSNL TATA INDICOM AIRCEL

3 4

158 118

5 6

101 69

In question no.6, we asked the respondents to rank various brands in respect of higher perceived qualities in terms of services on offerings. Here Vodafone got the no.1 rank followed by Airtel. Thus Vodafone has been able to create an image of giving high quality of services. Airtel is not far behind and it should try and improve its quality of service to catch up with Vodafone. The findings of this question are given below: BRAND VODAFONE AIRTEL RELIANCE BSNL TATA INDICOM AIRCEL 5 6 94 77 RANK 1 2 3 4 SCORE 209 201 162 110

In question no.7, we asked the respondents if they would recommend the mentioned brands to their friends or relatives. They were required to give their response in four

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parameters for each brand, like they would never recommend, they do not know if they would recommend, they may recommend and they would definitely recommend. The never recommend response was given a score of zero, do not know response was given a score of 3, may be response was given a score of 5 and definitely recommend response was given a score of 10. The results of this question are given below: BRAND VODAFONE AIRTEL RELIANCE BSNL TATA INDICOM AIRCEL 5 6 11.00% 9.00% RANK 1 2 3 4 PERCENTAGE 26.00% 24.00% 16.00% 14.00%

Here Vodafone was the most recommended brand and again Airtel followed it. People think that Vodafone is a better brand to recommend and this shows that they have high regards for the brand. Airtel comes out to be the second best brand to recommend and so it has to work harder to improve its image. In question no. 8, we asked the respondents to relate the qualities like dependable, prestigious, aggressive, youthful, friendly and others if any, with the brands. The results are given below:

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BRAND AIRTEL RELIANCE TATA INDICOM AIRCEL BSNL VODAFONE

RANK 1 1

SCORE 27 27

1 4 4 6

27 24 24 23

Here Airtel emerged as the no.1 brand along with Reliance. In question no.9, we asked the respondents that which of the mentioned brand would lead the 3G revolution in future. Here Airtel shared the no.1 spot along with Vodafone. This shows that people think Airtel as a brand of future and associate high value to it. The findings of this question are given below: BRAND AIRTEL VODAFONE RELIANCE BSNL AIRCEL RANK 1 2 3 4 5 PERCENTAGE 40% 40% 12.50% 5% 2.50%

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TATA INDICOM 6 0%

BRAND RELEVANCE We have asked two questions in this section i.e. question no.10 and question no.11 and each question carried a weightage of 50 points. The final outcome of the analysis of these two questions is given below: TATA BRAND TOTAL SCORE RANK 550 1 500 2 83.33 450 3 66.66 100 6 16.66 250 4 50 250 4 50 AIRTEL VODAFONE RELIANCE AIRCEL INDICOM BSNL

PERCENTILE 100

Here Airtel is ranked no.1 and this shows that Airtel has delivered what is communicates and the need identification in case of Airtel is very good. In question no.10, we asked the respondents that in accordance with their past experience, which brands satisfies their specific needs. The respondents were free to choose more than one brand. The results of this question are given below:

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PERCENTAGE BRAND AIRTEL RELIANCE VODAFONE BSNL TATA INDICOM AIRCEL 5 6 5.00% 0.00% RANK 1 2 3 4 OF TOTAL 37.50% 35.00% 32.50% 20.00%

Here Airtel comes out to be the no.1 brand which satisfies the specific needs of the consumers. In question 11, we asked the respondents to rate various brands on given parameters like network coverage, call clarity, sms facilities, call centre support, i nternet facilities, call rates and other value added services. The results of this question are given below: BRAND VODAFONE AIRTEL RELIANCE RANK 1 2 3 4 SCORE 38 34 30 20

TATA

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INDICOM BSNL AIRCEL 5 6 18 7

Here Vodafone comes out to be the no.1 brand satisfying various needs of the people. Airtel ranked second and needs to work on its basket of services offerings so that it can catch up with Vodafone.

BRAND DIFFERENTIATION: We have asked two questions in this section i.e. question 12 and question 13 in other to find out brand differentiation of Airtel. Each question carried a weightage of 50 points. The final outcome of our analysis is given below: TATA BRAND TOTAL SCORE RANK 500 2 600 1 100 450 3 66.66 100 6 16.66 250 4 50 250 4 50 AIRTEL VODAFONE RELIANCE AIRCEL INDICOM BSNL

PERCENTILE 83.33

Here Vodafone was ranked no.1 and was followed by Airtel. Thus Vodafone has been able to differentiate itself from other brands substantially. It is really very difficult in this industry to differentiate one brand from other because every brand offers services which are at par with each other and which could hardly be differentiated. So the companies have to really work very hard to do it. The Vodafone has been able to do it because of its very good customer support and its innovative zoo -zoo campaign. Airtel has created differentiation compared to other brands but it has to work further to gain the no.1 spot.

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In question 12, we asked the respondents to rate different brands on given parameter like GPRS, closed user group/friend circle, promotional offers, customer care, value added services, innovation and value for money. The idea was to find out if a brand has created any differentiation through its service offerings. The r esults are given below: BRAND VODAFONE AIRTEL RELIANCE TATA INDICOM BSNL AIRCEL 4 5 6 18 14 12 RANK 1 2 3 SCORE 41 34 28

Here Vodafone was ranked no.1 which shows that it has been able to satisfy the needs of the people better than other brands satisfying the same needs. In question 13, we asked the respondent were asked to rate various brands on the parameter of satisfying needs of a particular category like family, friends and professionals. The idea was to find out if a brand has differentiate d itself by satisfying needs of a specific segment or category better than other brands. The results are given below:

BRAND VODAFONE AIRTEL

RANK 1 2

SCORE 17 14

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RELIANCE BSNL TATA INDICOM AIRCEL

2 4

14 9

5 6

7 3

Here also Vodafone is ranked no.1 and it shows that even in specific segments or groups, Vodafone satisfies needs better than other service providers. Airtel is ranked second and should work hard to differentiate itself from other brands in this highly competitive environment. Now the Brand Asset Valuator tries to measure two aspect of a brand i.e. Brand Stature and Brand Vitality. The brand Stature determines the current state of a brand and it has two components 1) Brand knowledge which tells how well the consumers are aware about the brand. 2) Brand Esteem-which tells how well the consumers regard the brand. Brand Vitality determines the potential for growth of the brand and it consists of the following two components: 1) Brand Differentiation- which shows how distinct the brand is from others. 2) Brand Relevance- which shows the appropriateness to the target customers. Since we have all the above four components, so we calculate the Brand Stature and Brand Vitality of various brands. The results are given below:

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TATA AIRTEL BRAND STATURE BRAND VITALITY 550 550 400 100 300 300 600 550 400 100 200 300 V

HIGH
VODA FONE
AIRTEL

A CEL

LOW

Brand Stature
P 41


AF
TATA INDICO M

E RELIANCE

AIRCEL

INDICOM

BSNL

RELIA NCE

BSNL

HIGH

1) Airtel and Vodafone are brand with high Stature and high Vitality2) Reliance and BSNL have medium Stature and Vitality 3) Tata Indicom is a brand with low Statute but medium Vitality 4) Aircel is a brand with low Stature and low Vitality. Thus from the above results, we can conclude that the ne ed identification of Airtel has been excellent (courtesy the Relevance score), and the efforts undertaken to chart out a clear and separate image in the minds of the consumer have paid rich dividends (courtesy the Differentiation score); has contributed to the high vitality of the brand. Also the brand knowledge regarding Airtel has shown excellent results (courtesy the knowledge scores) backed by the brand s positive image boosting the pride, the attachment, and the ego of the users (courtesy the Esteem scores). This has led to high stature for the brand. To conclude, the impact of having high scores on the stature and vitality front for Airtel depicts a brilliant present position for the brand and places it in the quadrant of Leadership in the power grid.

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LADDERING

Clinical psychologists first introduced the laddering technique in the 1960s, as a method of understanding people s core values and beliefs. The technique is powerful, because it provides a simple and systematic way of establishing an individual s core set of constructs on how they view the world. Laddering is well established in the field of psychology, and its success has led researchers in other industries to adapt its core tenets to their fields. Early marketing practitioners conceived and refined a model for describing the linkages between customers values and their overall purchasing behaviour: the Means End Chain theory. Specifically, market researchers have adapted the laddering method for use in consumer and organizational research. However, in addition to adapting the research method itself, early marketing practitioners conceived and refined a model for describing the linkages between customers values and their overall purchasing behaviour: the Means End Chain theory. This theory provides both a framework for capturing qualitative laddering research data in the consumer space and a model for assessing consumer values and behaviours. According to the Means End Chain theory, there is a hierarchy of consumer perceptions and product knowledge that ranges from attributes (A) to consumption consequences (C) to personal values (V), as follows:
y

Attributes At the top level of this hierarchy, attributes are most recognizable by individuals. Individuals recognize the attributes of a product or system easily. For example, I like this car, because it is a convertible.

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Consequences In turn, the attributes have consequences for the individual. For example, the convertible makes its driver feel young and free. Each attribute may have one or more consequences for any given individual.

Core values Finally, each consequence are linked to a core value of the person s life. For example, the sense of youth makes that driver feel attractive.

The A-C-V sequence forms a chain, or ladder, that indicates the relationship between a product attribute and a core value. In theory, for each area of a product or application, an A -C-V sequence forms a chain, or ladder, that indicates the relationship between a product attribute and a core value. We can collect all the ladders for a given domain to form a Hierarchical Value Map that illustrates all the major means-end and attribute-consequence-value connections and describes individuals behaviour based on their core values. Typically, these maps contain many product attributes that are linked to a smaller set of consequences, which are, in turn, mapped to a core set of individual values. While particular individuals are likely to have specific nuances to their sets of ladders and value maps, we can recognize and document high-level patterns across different customer types or personas. The real power of the Means End Chain model is that it emphasizes why and how products are important in an individual s life, going beyond a reported description of functional attributes or properties. Attributes When you first ask individuals why they bought a product or like a particular application, they will likely respond by describing product attributes. To better understand the limited significance of attributes, consid er the following example. When you first ask individuals why they bought a product or like a particular application, they will likely respond by describing product attributes. These attributes may include quality, price, brand name, or the inclusion of par ticular features. However, while such

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product attributes may be recognizable to individuals, they don t necessarily get at the underlying reason for purchase or use A researcher who focuses only on such responses will miss the opportunity to explore the consequences that the individual associates with those attributes. Consequences The consequences of particular attributes reveal more personal aspects of the individual s relationship with the product or application. Understanding the impact of certain attributes rather than just recognizing the presence of the attributes alone reveals a significantly greater number of insights about the individual s behaviours. The consequences of particular attributes reveal more personal aspects of the individual s relationship with the product or application. Often, inexperienced researchers fail to follow up on the consequences of various attributes. Neglecting to do this is, obviously, not recommended; because we can use many of the insights we gain to i nform strategy decisions for our products. By asking Why? to get research participants to elaborate on their initial answers, we can elicit responses that reveal more about the emotional values of an individual. Compared to lists of product attributes, t he responses at this level are much more thoughtful and come closer to the real reasons an individual chooses a particular product or behaves in a certain way. From a marketing perspective, understanding the consequences of product or application attributes can provide the basis for marketing messages or branding. Values If we can uncover the core values that relate to a given product or application domain, such insights can have significant potential to inform product strategy and design decisions.

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The reasons people buy something, opt -in to a community or service, or adopt a process are not always clear, even to the individuals making the decisions. As I noted above, people usually respond readily to questions about their selection of a given product or service at the attribute level, but their responses usually do not reveal their core reasons for adoption. The Means End Chain theory suggests that personal values play the most dominant role in directing individuals choices. These personal values are ind ividuals core beliefs and are relatively stable perspectives that have a strong emotional impact. Examples are security, belonging, happiness, fun, and enjoyment. According to the Means End Chain, if we can uncover the core values that relate to a given product or application domain, such insights can have significant potential to inform product strategy and design decisions.

Conducting the Laddering First, ask participants to describe what kinds of features would be useful in or distinguish different products. The goal of this first step is to elicit the main product attributes from the participants. Laddering is the actual interview technique we can use to uncover the attributes, consequences, and values that the Means End Chain defines. To envision a laddering interview, think of the traditional image of a psychologist interviewing a patient, attempting to uncover the root cause of some behaviour or problem. The patient may not be able to make connections between underlying issues and their manifesta tions, but through skilled interviewing, the psychologist can dig deeper and deeper to unearth insights that have relevance. A laddering interview for user experience research is similar. First, ask participants to describe what kinds of features would be useful in or distinguish different products. The goal of this first step is to elicit the main product attributes from the participants. Initially, if you re lucky, participants may provide some answers that actually

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identify consequences, but most likely, they will describe attribute information. So, you must ask them to expand on their answers later in the interview. You can next turn to questions that address the consequences of the identified attributes. Based on their initial responses relating to at tributes, you can next turn to questions that address the consequences of the identified attributes. You should lead the participants to a higher level of questioning that forces them to think about the reasons for their attribute preferences. To achieve this, ask questions such as the following: Why is this important to you? What does it mean to you? What is the meaning of this product having this attribute? If necessary, ask such questions repeatedly, with the goal of understanding the consequences of the attributes you elicited during the first round of questioning. To uncover personal values, employ the same type of Why? Questions. While participants may not be able to enunciate a value for every consequence, your goal is to ask questions at higher and higher levels of abstraction and assemble a good picture of each participant s ladder for a particular area of a product. To uncover personal values, we employ the same type of Why? questions. While participants may not be able to enunciate a value for every consequence, your goal is to ask questions at higher and higher levels of abstraction. For a given product or application, there may be several areas under consideration in your research. Typically, during a laddering interview, you will lead partic ipants through one area, or ladder, at a time. This allows participants to remain focused on each particular line of questioning. However, you should maintain a broad list of topics to cover and be aware of any areas that may overlap. Optionally, you can jump between consequences and attribute sets, but this requires a significant amount of cognitive focus on your part to keep track of everything.

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With all of the data you ve collected, you can perform a typical qualitative analysis to identify affinities and patterns across participants. In a formal study, you might detail a Hierarchical Value Map for each participant and identify areas of similarity and differences across participants. The end result of the analysis is a set of qualitative findings whose ai m is to identify actionable insights for product strategy and design.

RATIONALE BEHIND CHOOSING THE LADDERING TECHNIQUE:


In the previous section, we tried to identify the status of the brand by quantitative techniques. In this section we had to understand the identity or the personality of the brand. It is often an observation that the decisions related to brands are emotional and hardly rational. One would pay a premium for the perceived additional benefits than the mentioned features. The heavy inclination towards emotional influencers would limit the quantitative analysis. Converting emotional reasons in to numbers would not only be a tough task for the respondent but also for the researcher. Thus, we choose to carry out a qualitative study to find out t he rational and emotional reasons influencing a consumers behavior towards brands. Also please note that the group did not have a fixed set of questions to start the laddering process. The main aim was to extract the values which the respondents seek in a mobile services provider. Thus we picked cues from the discussions that we had with the respondents for the laddering process to extract the set of consequences and values. Thus, the process as a whole was more bent towards responsive nature than a struct ured and a formal one.

SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS:
Sample size: 8 (All Airtel Users)

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Age Group: 22-26 Education: MBA postgraduates

SUMMARY CONTENT CODES FOR BRAND AIRTEL:


ATTRIBUTES: 1. Good coverage/connectivity 2. Low rates 3. Promotional offers 4. Awareness 5. Availability 6. Quality of services (customer support, billing support, etc) CONSEQUENCES: 7. Voice clarity and clear communication 8. Avoid call drops at critical time 9. Convenience 10. Gain Attention 11. Saves money 12. Saves time 13. Impress others 14. Allocate time to other chores 15. Superior academic performance

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16. Brand recall 17. Spend money for other purposes 18. Improves social life

VALUES: 19. Value for money 20. Self-esteem 21. Belonging 22. Emotional connect

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VAL E FOR MONEY (19)

SELF-ESTEEM (20)

SPEND MONEY FOR OTHER PURPOSES (17)

SAVES MONEY (11)

VOICE CLARITY & CLEAR COMMUNICATION (7

LOW RATES (2

PROMOTIONAL OFFERS (3

AWARENESS (4

AVAILABILITY (5

GOOD COVERAGE/ CONNECTIVITY (1

y Judicial s e d to avail bette se vices than competitors

y Improves self image/worth (20)

BELONGING (21) y Family y Friends/Peers y Social Acceptance

ALLOCATE TIME TO OTHER CHORES (14)

SUPERIOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE (15)

BRAND RECALL (16)

SAVES TIME (12)

AVOID CALL DROPS AT CRITICAL TIMES (8)

CONVENIENCE (9)

EMOTIONAL CONNECT (22) y With the brand ambassadors/ad vertisement concept. IMPROVES SOCIAL LIFE (18) IMPRESS OTHERS (13) GAIN ATTENTION (10) QUALITY OF SERVICES (BILLING, CUSTOMER SUPPORT, ETC.) (6)

HIERARCHIAL VAL E MA

51

Thus at the end of the laddering exercise, the group has arrived at four values through various combinations of attributes and consequences. The four values are -value for money, self esteem, sense of belonging and emotional connect with the brand and its concepts. Also, attributes like good coverage/connectivity and low call rates emerged as the most important attributes from the exercise conducted. Hence future product strategies and decisions should be consciously built around these core values, as these are the ones for which consumer/user shop for a particular product/brand. Attributes and consequences only serve as enablers towards attaining certain values.

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BB
www.brandassetvaluator.com/au www.wikipedia.org www.ai tel.in

APH

marketing.byu.edu/htmlpages/courses/490r/adderingtheory.doc l

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