MG6304 Market Research Market Research Report: E-Mobile MBS Management and Marketing Philippe Vancell - Student No:

: 110222323 David Shanley - Student No: 110223130 Mark ODonovan - Student No: 106571921 Date: 07/01/2011 Word Count: 4,786

Executive Summary

This report was written in conjunction with a Market Research Project carried out on Eircoms newest mobile brand e-mobile, and what are the perceptions of the brand in general with consumers. In order to understand the e-mobile brand, we gathered data about Eircom since it is the mother company. We also did a comparative analysis of the other mobile brands existing in Ireland and came up with a SWOT analysis of the e-mobile brand. This was summarized as part of our secondary data in the first part of the report. In order to get a hands on experience and grasp the meaning of e-mobile more intensely we embarked on analysing the brand personally by conducting various research exercises. As part of our market research we conducted the following:

2 one-hour observations in order to record the gender and generation of people entering the E-Mobile Store situated in St. Patrick Street Cork. 1 Focus Group in which we analysed the peoples perception upon viewing e-mobiles television adverts. We wanted to see what their opinions and impressions of the brand would be after viewing the adverts e-mobile had used since their launch in October 2010.

40 Surveys which dealt upon the perception consumers had of Eircom and E-mobile. And also to see if there was a correlation between them.

Once our research was done we did an analysis of our findings. The results of our findings relate with our research question, since the peoples perception of e-mobile is effected by the advertising of e-mobile and also by Eircom as its mother company. Concluding we gave recommendation on how e-mobile can actually change in a positive way the consumers perception, in order to attract a vaster target market. We will start this market research report with a brief introduction on Eircom, since it is e-mobiles mother company

Introduction

The Eircom Group plc is an Irish telecommunications company established in 1984 and was in the past owned by the state. It is currently the largest telecommunications operator in the Republic of Ireland and operates primarily in the republic and Northern Ireland, with a small presence in the UK. Eircom currently has 6,073 employees and generates about 2.602 billion in revenue. Eircom has a number of subsidiaries which include meteor and Eircom Phonewatch both of which are established recognisable organisations within the communications market. Eircom operate the largest fixed-line telecommunications network in the republic, under license from the commission for communications regulation. Most homes and businesses in the state are connected by this network. Eircom currently operate a fixed-line telephone network, a mobile telephone network (Meteor) and act as an internet services provider amongst other things. Prior to the privatisation of Eircom in 1995 the organisation had a monopoly in the Irish market. During this time the organisations market share of Irish landlines was as high as 82%. This figure has decreased in recent years to72% in 2006, however it is still a significantly large market share and underlines Eircoms position as a market leader in Ireland. Additionally Eircom broadband had a 49% share in the Irish market in 2006 and the meteor subsidiary had a 19% share in the Irish market with 1,032,000 cellular subscribers on the network. Eircoms strength in todays market is largely down to its success during the initial years of its inception. As the organisation was a state owned organisation with a monopoly in the communications market there were no rival organisations competing for market share. As a result Eircom or Bord Telecom Eireann as it was know at the time could envision the mass market, that being land line distribution to the hole of Ireland. Tellis and Golder (1996) suggested that tapping into the mass market provides economies of scale and allows an organisation to exploit the full potential of a new product/service. The concept of envisioning the mass market is evident in the development of the land line telecommunications sector during the early years of the organisations development. By the time the organisation was privatised in 1995 it had secured 82% of the market making it almost impossible for competitors to compete. Additionally having been a state owned organisation the financial resources were available for rapid expansion, resources beyond which most private limited companies can access. Having been a market leader since its inception Eircom has developed a high level of brand loyalty. Soloman et al (2009) suggest that one of the most common heuristics which effect customers decision making is brand loyalty. Customers who have strong brand loyalty feel that it is not worth considering alternative options. Jones (2007) suggests the first to market approach establishes a level of brand loyalty, it is then up to the organisation to be innovative and creative enough to retain these customers. In relation to Eircom the high levels of brand loyalty evident during the early years is largely due to the monopoly which they had on the market at the time. In a market where the competitive climate is nonexistent the only viable option is to go with the available product/service.

Another area to consider when discussing brand loyalty with particular relevance to Eircom is cultural receptivity. The Eircom brand having been a government owned organisation may have been perceived as a very safe and credible organisation thus effecting brand loyalty. Erdem et al (2006) suggest that brand receptivity is largely driven by risk aversion, considering this idea customers may have felt a false sense of security due to Eircom being a government owned organisation. In the current market enviroment do it has changed high levels of brand identification and brand loyalty remain. The association with the current Eircom brand may be as simple as why change now, the organisation has a track record of being effective, efficient, reliable and above all Irish. There are few Irish people if none that cannot relate to or who havent dealt with the Eircom group at some point.

Market Research Question In this market research project we will be discussing E-mobile the newest mobile brand launched in the Irish market. The main question we are analysing is as follows:

Do customers views and perceptions of Eircom and the E-Mobile brand translate and correlate with Eircomss method and approach in advertising E-mobile as the newest entry to the mobile market? In order to answer our research question we have decided to establish our findings by focusing the consumers views and perception of both Eircom and E-mobile and correlating these responses with the advertising messages and channels Eircom is using in order to promote the E-mobile brand. We will be collecting data, by using both primary and secondary data as follows:

Primary Data Structure:

Perception of Eircom by consumers Knowledge about Eircom as the mother company owning E-mobile Are the consumer perceptions of E-mobile influenced by their perception on Eircom as Irelands largest telecommunication provider?

Independent perception of the E-mobile brand in general.

Secondary Data Structure:

Literature on Eircom and E-mobile Comparisons between mobile brands in the market. SWOT Analysis on the E-mobile brand.

E-Mobile Package and Comparison:

As part of our secondary data for this market research project, we did an analysis of the services being offered by the main mobile brands in the Irish market. There are 6 main mobile operators within Ireland mainly Meteor, Vodafone, 3, O, Tesco and E-mobile. E-mobile is the newest entry to the mobile market, however when analysing telephony services its packages match with what other mobile networks are offering. Moreover it distinguishes itself by having a unique pre-pay option weekly plan as opposed to the usual monthly plan, which other mobile companies are not offering at the moment. E-mobile offers an exclusive weekly plan called the 7 day plan. This plan is further subdivided into 2 different packages, you get the 7/10 plan, where you have the option of getting unlimited calls and texts to all networks by topping up with 10 euros per week, and you also have the 7/15 plan, where you have the option of getting unlimited calls and texts to all networks plus 250mb of data download by topping up with 15 euros per week. This new tariff plan may be seen as quite innovative, however a little bit on the expensive side. On analysing e-mobiles adverts in the media, one can see that they are clearly advertising their packages to innovative high end professionals in a corporate work environment. This is clearly seen in these adverts by calling the main protagonists during the advert such names as Head of non-complication, Director of simplicity, thinking ahead and Head of doing things differently. Moreover these protagonists are being portrayed to be E-mobile employees, hence making consumers associate E-mobile as being a fresh innovative no worries alternative in the mobile market, with forward thinking individuals working for you. Following is a clear description of all services which are being offered by all mobile networks in Ireland in comparison with E-Mobile. Mobile networks have been analysed on the following plans: Pre-pay option, Standard Rates, Bill pay, Add-ons, Broadband and Roaming. (see appendices for all Mobile network services) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------E-mobile:1 Pre-pay options: Weekly 7 day plan 7/10 all the calls and text to all networks for 10 euros per week 7/15 all the calls and texts to all networks and 250 mb of data for 15 per week Monthly 30 day plan - Free texts to any network for 20 per month Free e-mobile talk and texts for 20 per month
1 Intouch eMobiles free quarterly magazine Autumn Issue 2010

Standard -

Irish landlines and networks for 25c per minute Texts to Irish networks 13c per text Voicemail 15c per minute

Bill Pay:

6 plans from 14 to 94, Sim only or monthly contract, all including free minute calls and text to any network, 3 plans offer free data allowance up to 5 GB and Eircom customer discount (landline)

Add-ons:

Data, International Minutes and any network texts.

Broad Band: Bill pay, monthly at 19.99, 12 month contract, 10 GB Pre-pay, daily at 2.99 (500mb), monthly at 19.99 (7.5 GB), no contract Roaming: Call 47c, receiving a call 18c, text 13c, Customers for less than 2 months - 60 to setup and enable roaming.

E-Mobile SWOT analysis: We are outlining the Swot analysis from our research into the brand E-mobile and how it can improve the brand in the future and where also it could meet in its end. As E-mobile is entering the

mobile market it meets experienced competitors head on. How can they make themselves unique in this market? E-Mobiles Strengths: Wide market base in terms of customers. They are marketing to an older more experienced customer with better bill pay options than competitors.

Have the popular and credible brand name of Eircom to back up their products. Use the Eicoms brand trademark underneath the E-mobile brand offering reassurances to the customer. Offers customers in-depth knowledge of the mobile industry.

Weaknesses: Dont put enough energy marketing to customers in the age barrack 12-25 year olds. The Eircom brand being associated with the E-mobile can have both a positive and equally a negative effect on customer interest. Competing with O2, Meteor and Vodafone for market share- major organisations who offer cheap rates to customers and have been operating for a number of years, thus developing consumer loyalty From our research we feel E-mobile hasnt established itself yet in the market and needs time to develop the business and to develop their market strategy.

Advertising needs to be more widespread and on every medium (radio, newspapers and on Eircom website- there is only a quick link option, this needs to advertised more effectively on the website, heighten awareness.

Word of mouth aspect- Meaning people are not talking about the brand and little is known about the brand.

Opportunities

A major opportunity is to advertise to the students 12 to 25 year olds and go head to head with other brands, under-cutting their prices so E-mobile will look attractive and approachable to students. This will help develop customer loyalty and word of mouth advertising.

Increased awareness of the brand through marketing- sponsorship of a team or an event has always the potential to increase awareness.

The opportunity to increase customers by making the E-mobile and Eircom connection more widespread. It mentioned on the E-mobile website that Eircom has a customer base of 2.5 million people; this in itself offers many opportunities to target this market.

Exploring the idea of a combined network connection Eircom. .i.e. If Eircom has a connection/network deal with an organisation then offer a deal with company mobile phones and incorporate the idea that way.

Opportunity to take E-mobile into the European market and compete in the euro market. More ambitiously to make E-mobile a global brand by development of networks throughout Europe.

Threats As mentioned above the threats such as Vodafone, Meteor and O2 in the Irish market makes it very difficult to compete against. Being a new brand means facing difficult challenges against the top 3, how can E-mobile price their products and with the emergence of Tesco mobile this is another threat to their company and adds pressure to compete. Mobile market is open to additional competitors and this leaves the option of other major co-operations like Tesco competing in it.

The threat of Eircoms reputation being undermined by other competitors and having a knock on effect to E-mobile. The threat that their effect will be not enough to establish a market share and thus ending the company as it is not producing profits.

Observation Analysis

Observation No. 1 - Saturday 6th November from 12:00 to 13:00 near E-Mobile Shop. Aim: Recording gender and generation of people entering the E-Mobile Store.

MALE YOUNG (UP to 30) MIDDLE (30 to 60) OLD (61+) YOUNG (UP to 30)

FEMALE MIDDLE (30 to 60) OLD (61+)

10

20

Observation No. 2 - Saturday 27th November from 12:00 to 13:00 near E-Mobile Shop MALE YOUNG (UP to 30) MIDDLE (30 to 60) OLD (61+) YOUNG (UP to 30) FEMALE MIDDLE (30 to 60) OLD (61+)

12

20

10

26

Aim: Recording gender and generation of people entering the E-Mobile Store.

Analysis: As part of our primary data collection, we decided to carry out 2 one-hour observations in front of the E-mobile shop in St. Patrick Street, in order to analyse which age segment the E-mobile brand is attracting in general. The E-mobile shop is situated approximately in the centre of St. Patrick Street and confines with a high standard fashion clothes shop like Tommy Hilfiger on one side, and a coffee shop/pub on the other. Observation Techniques were useful in order to be more flexible in our research approach and also to avoid bias from respondents that would act differently if they knew that they were being monitored for research purposes. In this case we were recording individuals on their free will in entering the E-mobile shop without them being affected behaviourally by our observational research. The first observation was done in early November, on a Saturday afternoon. Our observation showed that since E-mobile had been just launched approximately around a month only; a lot of individuals did not know much about this new mobile brand. This was evident in the low number of people actually entering the shop compared to a much superior number of people just walking by the shop on St. Patrick Street and not taking any care of the E-mobile shop in general. In fact during our first observation 17 males and 23 females only entered the shop. What was more striking is that out of the 40 consumers who entered the shop in order to enquire on E-mobile the 30 of them were middle-aged individuals. This correlates with the advertisements that are being showed in the media, in which their main highlight is middle-aged professionals The Second observation was done in late November, as well on a Saturday afternoon. Numbers of people entering the E-mobile shop had increased, even though it was only 2 months since their main launch. This can be due to 2 factors: 1. The highly competitive environment which is found within the mobile industry especially when people become knowledgeable on the various packages mobile companies offer. 2. A period closer to Christmas time, aided by the advertisements E-mobile launched about their Christmas offers.

During this observation 38 males and 40 females entered the E-mobile Shop on St. Patrick Street, increasing the total number to +38 customers from our first observation in the beginning of November. This shows that the E-mobile brand was becoming more recognised and followed by consumers; also people walking by were sometimes giving furtive glances to the Christmas promotional posters attached on the shops showcase in the front. The interest between middleaged individuals was consistent throughout the second observation as well; out of the 78 customers entering the shop 46 of them were middle-aged individuals.

The recordings from both observations, shows that the approach the E-mobile brand is advertising its services and products in order to attract middle-aged consumers in particular is actually being reflected. Also the increase in the number of individuals enquiring shows that the E-mobile brand is becoming a recognised brand within the Irish mobile industry,

Focus Group Analysis (transcript is found in the appendices) Jobber (2007) highlights that the strongest type of media for promotion would be television. During our Focus group we wanted to analyse the peoples perception upon viewing e-mobiles television adverts. We wanted to see what their opinions and impressions of the brand would be after viewing the adverts e-mobile had used since their launch in October 2010. Three adverts and a small documentary on e-mobiles launch were shown and the floor was opened for discussion after each viewing. The video clips that where shown were as follows: 1. Advert Meet the Team 2 2. Advert Seven/Ten (7/10)3 3. Advert Making Christmas Easier4 4. Documentary e-mobile launch Documentary5 The first advert to be shown to the participants also happened to be the first advert that was aired after the launch of e-mobile. After showing the advert the main perception by most of the participants was that e-mobile wants to be portrayed totally different from other competitors by giving a very simplistic non-complicated feel to the brand. The participants also felt that its trying to give a friendly appeal where there are forward thinking people working for you. Even though the participants felt that this advert was very comforting, they still thought that the target they are aiming for would not be students, but middle aged business people. This is made clear when
2 http://www.youtube.com/user/emobileIreland#p/u/11/RKy9xMIPEHg 3 http://www.youtube.com/user/emobileIreland#p/u/10/CxX6Scx5GEQ 4 http://www.youtube.com/user/emobileIreland#p/u/9/qeMAb2HYAvA 5 http://www.youtube.com/user/emobileIreland#p/u/24/H3Dis4txebs

participant 1 says I mean the younger generation just want the cool stuff when it comes to mobile services. Definitely they are not really directing it to the younger generation. The second advert which was shown portrayed one of the packages that e-mobile was offering to its clients. After seeing this advert the participants looked uninterested in the brand. They found the package to be quite expensive and useless and to be more targeted to middle aged business people. They even noticed that there was a part of the advert which had small print about regulations of the package and the video had to be shown again in order for them to recheck what it said and reconfirm that the package was quite expensive. The third and last advert shown was a Christmas time advert, named Making Christmas Easier. After seeing the advert the participants emphasized again that e-mobile is trying to portray this friendly image in order to relate more to the brand and their adverts are innovative and nice to watch. On the other hand when seeing the prizes and the people portrayed in the adverts, their perception was that e-mobile is targeting the older generation. The last clip to be shown was a short documentary on the launch of e-mobile, as Eircoms newest mobile entry. The Participants were quite positive in their comments after being shown this clip. They though that this clip showed how Eircom with the help of e-mobile wants to promote their network and their progression in the communications industry. Participant 4 highlights this by even regarding their efforts as a means to the future of technology. It was also noted that by making such a clip with the actual people that have worked for the launch of e-mobile, it makes it more credible in the eyes of the consumers and they should have used the same strategy in their adverts. After showing these 4 clips we asked the participants on which network they were currently, and none of them was with e-mobile, making it clearer that e-mobile was not targeting the student profile but the more professional middle aged profile. Naturally when asked if after what theyve seen they would change to e-mobile, all participants were reluctant to change to e-mobile all of them being comfortable with the network they were on and most of them seeing e-mobile as quite an expensive option to move to.

Survey Analysis (survey copy found in appendices) The following analysis is based on stastical information gathered via Survey Monkey, the survey was completed by 38 participants. The age range of participants who completed the survey is 1660, there were no surveys completed by anyone in the age bracket of 60+. A statistical break down of all participants can be seen in figure 1 below.

Figure 1

The largest percentage of participants who completed the survey were aged 16-24 and account for 66% of the overall number of participants. The 25-35 age bracket account for the second highest number of participants, approximaly 24% of the total number. Combining both age groups, the number of participants amounts to 90% of the total number of participants. The high percentages of participants evident in the younger age catagories may be a reflection of the method utalised to deliver the surveys. The online method of surveying may not have given a fair representation of the different age brackets, people aged between 16 and 45 are more likely to utalise and online method of surveying where as people aged 45+ would be more likely to complete a survey in a one to one setting. Therefore the statistical information based on this survey may not be an accurate reflection of the older age groups. The gender representation was almost identical with the male participants accounting for 52.7% of the surveys and the female participants acounting for 47.3%. The even representation of both male and female participants strenghtens the validity of the results gathered from the survey and allows for an accurate statistical representation of both genders in the survey answers. The first question which was asked in the survey was whether participants had a positive or negative perception of Eircom, this question would allow us to gain a better understanding of how

Eircom is perceived in the current market place. Figure 2 below highlights the varying perceptions of Eircom.

Figure 2

Figure 3

The perceptions of Eircom based on the survey results are mostly positive with 63% of the participants selecting either good or very good and only 37% selecting bad or very bad. This is an important aspect to consider when marketing the E-mobile brand using the strength of the mother company Eircom. If people in large had negative perceptions of Eircom it may have been detrimental to associate E-mobile with Eircom. The positive perceptions evident in the surveys however suggest the opposite that E-mobile would benefit for the recognition of Eircom as its mother company. Additionally figure 3 shows the Eircom services utilised by the participants, all participants avail of one if not both of the services offered by Eircom and so its clear that the Eircom brand is widely used amongst the participants.

Figure 4: Represents The awareness of E-mobiles connection to Eircom maybe a reflection of how new it is to the participants awareness of Emarket, people have no relationship with the brand as of yet and therefore cannot identify with Emobile as a connection mobile and itssubsidiary ofto Eircom. Eircom.
Figure 5

The number of participants

that are aware of E-mobiles The next aspect of the survey was to discover the mobile network each participant used and why connection to Eircom is almost they chose their particular network, this would allow us to compare and contrast E-mobiles strength identical to those unaware of in the market to those it is competing with. Nearly 40% of the participants said they used Vodafone, the connection. most common answers for their choice were value for money, cheap, good deals, effective
Figure 4

and popular. Vodafones appeal seems to be

value for money and the offers which they give to customers. The second most popular choice of network was Meteor with 30% of the total number of participants choosing this network. Most common choices for picking Meteor include cheap, for students, value for money, cheap texts and for teenagers. Based on the participants answers the Meteor service appeals to teenagers and students by offering value for money and special offers, similar to that of Vodafone but aimed more toward the younger generation. E-mobile had the least amount of users along with Tesco Mobile with only 1 participant availing of each service, participants views on E-mobile included expensive, dont know enough about them, for older markets and new/untested. Peoples perceptions of E-mobile are almost the opposite of

that evident in the comments left for Vodafone and Meteor, the fact that the brand is new and participants knew little about E-mobile suggests that the advertising campaign is not working. Having identified the different Networks used by participants, the next question was to determine whether they would be willing to change to E-mobile. The results are represented in figure 6. 84% of the participants stated that they would not change to E-mobile, the reasons given by participants included too expensive, no value for money, poor top up options, need something more cost efficient, deals are not beneficial and happy with my current network. From the analysis of the data participants feel there is nothing to be gained by joining E-mobile, additionally most participants seemed content with their current network. Of the 16% who said yes it was based on the premise that they would receive a better offer than they are currently getting, some of the responses in favour of switch included if I got a better offer I would switch, if it was better value for money, if the offers were good and if it was better than my current network. Those who stated they would switch didnt seem to know any of the offers available with E-mobile as almost all stated if something were different of better etc. The final question was whether the participants perceptions of Eircom would affect their decision to switch to E-mobile; the results were quite similar however the responses in relation to the question varied quite a bit. The main responses associated with those who said it would affect their decision included Eircoms customer service is terrible, Eircom are too expensive, Eircom offer poor value for money and Eircom have poor internet spend and call out service. The negative aspects of Eircom's reputation would therefore affect some of the participants decisions when considering a switch to E-mobile. Those who stated that Eircom wouldnt affect their decision to change to Emobile suggest reasons such as Eircom is a reliable and reputable and makes no difference in their decision. Reccomendations After getting our primary data and doing its analysis we can conclude that the consumer perception of e-mobile is in a way affected by Eircom as its mother company and that even though it is the newest mobile brand on the high street market, its not getting the widest market segment. Hence in order for e-mobile to get a more positive consumer outlook we suggest that:

The marketing of e-mobile should focus more on e-mobile as a particular brand. The adverts although innovative in style need to give the consumer a more direct understanding of the offers and deals available.

A better comparison of e-mobile packages with packages offered by other mobile companies in the Irish market.

Their adverts should feature actual people working at e-mobile so the company is viewed as more credible, however at the same time keeping the warm simplistic and friendly feel of the other adverts

Include packages which would target a younger generation who maybe are put off by such expensive packages that e-mobile is offering at the moment for a more professional audience. Offering a multi-deal package, including Landline, Broadband and Mobile telephony at a discounted rate.

Bibliography Erdem, T., Swait, J., and Valenzuela, A., (2006). Brands as signals: a cross-country validation study. Journal of Marketing Research, 70 pp.34-49 Jobber, D., 2007. Principles and Practice of Marketing. 5th ed. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Education. Jones, G. (2007). Organisation Theory Design and Change. 5th ed. New Jersey, USA: Prentice Hall Kapferer, J.N. (2001). Strategic brand management: creating and sustaining brand equity long term. 2nd ed. London: Kegan Page Limited Kotabe, M., and Helsen, K., (2010), Global Marketing Management. 5th ed. John Wiley & Sons: Danvers Soloman, M.R., Marshall, G.W., Stuart, E.W., Mitchell, V., and Barnes, B., (2009). Marketing real people, real decisions. Prentice Hall: Essex Tellis, G.J., and Golder, P.N., (1996). First to market, first to fail? Real causes of enduring market leadership. Sloan Management Review

Appendices i) Survey MG 6304 Market Research, E-Mobile Survey: 1. Gender & Age Male F emale ----------------------Under 16 16 - 24 25 35 36 45 46 60 61+

2. What is your general perception of Eircom?

Very Good Good Bad Poor Other:

____________

3. Do you use any of the services offered by Eircom? Landline Broadband Both

4. Do you know that Eircom is the mother company owning E-Mobile? Yes No

5. Which mobile network are you on E-Mobile Vodafone O Meteor 3 Mobile Tesco

6. One word that come to your mind to describe the network: E-mobile Vodafone O Meteor 3 Mobile Tesco __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

7. Would you consider changing to E-Mobile? Yes No

8. Why?

___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________

9. Seeing that Eircom owns E-mobile, would your perceptions of Eircom play a part when thinking about E-mobile? Yes ___________________________________________________________________________ No ___________________________________________________________________________

10.What are your general perceptions of E-mobile? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ii) Mobile Comparisons

E-mobile:6
Pre-pay options: Weekly 7 day plan 7/10 all the calls and text to all networks for 10 euros per week 7/15 all the calls and texts to all networks and 250 mb of data for 15 per week Monthly 30 day plan Free texts to any network for 20 per month Free e-mobile talk and texts for 20 per month Standard Irish landlines and networks for 25c per minute Texts to Irish networks 13c per text Voicemail 15c per minute Bill Pay: 6 plans from 14 to 94, Sim only or monthly contract, all including free minute calls and text to any network, 3 plans offer free data allowance up to 5 GB and Eircom customer discount (landline)

6 Intouch eMobiles free quarterly magazine Autumn Issue 2010

Add-ons: Broad Band:

Data, International Minutes and any network texts. Bill pay, monthly at 19.99, 12 month contract, 10 GB Pre-pay, daily at 2.99 (500mb), monthly at 19.99 (7.5 GB), no contract

Roaming:

Call 47c, receiving a call 18c, text 13c, Customers for less than 2 months - 60 to setup and enable roaming.

3:7
Pre-pay options: 30 day plan 10 top up, 35c all services to all networks 20 top up Unlimited free calls, all weekend, any network Unlimited free texts anytime and network Unlimited facebook, google and twitter and more (500mb per month) 5 extra credit every month. Best of Both: Mixing Bill with pre-pay, 3 plans 15, 25 or 45 Euros (Bill), 15, 20, 40 Euros (Top-up) Pay bill monthly, with the option of topping up like a prepay mobile if you want more. Unlimited texts to all networks and unlimited 3 to 3 calls. Bill Pay: 4 plans on a 12 month contract from 25 to 75, 4 plans (smartphone) on an 18 month contract from 40 to 95 all include 2 GB data, flexi units (call [1min] text [2texts] or surf [500kb) 1free, 8 offered in all, Unlimited landline calls Downtime calls (evening and weekend calls) Call N.America Call down under Call Europe Text all Internet mini Internet Max

Add-ons:

Broad Band:

Broadband Bill pay, 3 plans, monthly 9.99[1GB] 19.99[15GB] to 26.24[30GB], Pre-pay, daily at 5 (500mb), weekly 10 (2GB) monthly at 15[1GB] 25[7.5GB] to 35[20GB]

7 Discover 3- October 2010

0:8
Pre-pay options: Monthly 30 day plan Free texts to any network for 20 per month Free 0 talk and texts for 20 per month Standard Irish landlines and networks for 30/35c per minute Texts to Irish networks 13c per text Bill Pay: 4 plans from 15 to 80, Sim only or 12/18 month contract, all including free minute calls and text to any network, 3 plans from 20 to 80, Sim only or 18 month contract, O talk and text, O calls and landline, O talk and text and landline. Add-ons: Broad Band: Texts, MMS, Broadband, Data, Mobile Internet. Bill pay, 18/12/6 contract monthly at 19.99, 15 GB, free stick Pre-pay, daily at 3.97 (500mb), monthly at 19.90 (5 GB), no contract stick 19.99 Roaming: Call 47c, receiving a call 18c, text 13c, Customers for less than 2 months - 60 to setup and enable roaming.

Vodafone:9
Pre-Pay Options: Monthly 30 day plan Free texts to any network for 20 per month Free Vodafone talk and texts for 20 per month Free mobile internet and Vodafone texts for 20 per month 30 top-up, free mobile service with either of first 2 plans. Standard Irish landlines and networks for 29c per minute Texts to Irish networks 13c per text Voicemail 15c per minute Bill Pay: 3 choices:

8 Connect Your O Magazine October 2010 9 Your Vodafone Guide

Perfect Choice [5 plans from 19 to 89], 12 monthly contract, all including free calls and text to Vodafone and set amount of minutes and text to other networks. Perfect Choice Access Plus (Smartphones) [5 plans from 35 to 100] 18 month contract, all including free calls and text to Vodafone and set amount of minutes and text to other networks, data package. Simply: 30 day contracts [3 plans from 20 to 60] all including free calls and text to Vodafone and set amount of minutes and text to other networks. Add-ons: Broad Band: Texts, Minutes, Data, Insurance, International minutes Bill pay, monthly at 19.99, 12 month contract, 10 GB free modem [new customers] Bill pay, monthly at 9.99, 12 month contract, 1 GB; Modem 29.99 [existing customers] Pre-pay, daily at 3 (500mb), weekly at 10 (2 GB) monthly at 20 (7.5 GB), no contract, modem for all three plans is 49.99 Roaming: Call 79c first charge than normal rate per minute, receiving a call 79c any length, text 13c, Customers for less than 2 months - 60 to setup and enable roaming.

Meteor:10
Pre-pay options: Monthly 30 day plan Free texts to any network for 20 per month Free e-mobile talk and texts for 20 per month Free mobile internet and Meteor texts for 20 per month/ Standard Irish landlines and networks for 29 per minute Texts to Irish networks 12c per text Voicemail Free Bill Pay: 3 smart plans from 30 to 85, Sim only or monthly contract, all including free minute calls and text to Meteor, Free data allowance up to 5 GB. Other network calls at 25c and texts at 10c 3 bill pay plans from 10 to 85, 30 day/12 or 18 month contract, various offers for talk or text. Add-ons: Broad Band: Mobile Internet, International Calls, Text Bill pay, monthly from 16.99, 12 month contract, 5 GB and 29 for stick Pre-pay, daily at 2.99 (500mb), monthly at 19.99 (7.5 GB), no contract, 49 for stick Roaming: Call 52c, receiving a call 23c, text 13c,

10 Get on to Meteor

Tesco Mobile:11
Pre-pay options: Monthly 30 day plan Anyone Anytime plane for 10 Euro, Anyone Anytime Plan for 20 Euro, Free Tesco-mobile talk and texts Anyone Anytime Plan for 30 Euro, Free Tesco-mobile talk and texts All plans have Bonus double value credit. Irish landlines and networks for 20c per minute Texts to Irish networks 9c per text Standard Irish landlines and networks for 20c per minute Texts to Irish networks 9c per text Voicemail 20c per minute Roaming: Call 47c to 2.29, receiving a call 18c to 2.19, text 13c to 39c.

iii) Focus Group Transcript Focus Group One Location: The Boole Library, UCC. Date: Wednesday 1st December 2010 Time: 17:30 18:30 Speaker: Philippe Vancell Participants: 6 college students Speaker: Hello Everyone, Ok first of all I would like to thank you all for coming, we really appreciate it. My name is Philippe Vancell and I am going to be directing the questions during the focus group, these are my other colleagues; David and Mark who are going to observe the group. We are doing a research on e-mobile and we would like get your opinions and impressions of the brand. We will be focusing on e-mobiles adverts. We will show you the adverts they have used since their launch and we will discuss them. Share your ideas and your perception upon seeing these advertisements. We would really appreciate it if you could answer them as honestly as possible in a group environment. (Before starting this focus group we asked how many knew that e-mobile was owned by Eircom and all participants knew that it was owned by Eircom) 11 http://www.tesco.com/mobilenetwork/

1st Advert: Meet the Team Speaker: What are your views after seeing this advert? Participant 1: To be honest I think they are trying to make the e-mobile brand look simplistic, with the headings they are giving in the advert. Participant 2: Yeah I think it has a forward thinking appeal Participant 3: I agree with that it gives the impression that they are trying to portray a forward thinking appeal. However I dont think so this would attract me, I mean the younger generation just want the cool stuff when it comes to mobile services. Definitely they are not really directing it to the younger generation. Participant 2: It also gives a friendly appeal to the whole organization. It gives me ease to know there are forward thinking people working for you. Participant 4: I also think they are trying to give a simplistic outlook in general. I feel customers in general will be at ease when they see this ad. Its simplistic and not complicated, like they are saying in the advert. Participant 5: I think they are definitely targeting middle aged business people with their advert; definitely as student it would not really attract me. Participant 1: Yes I definitely agree. Participant 6: I think the advert in general is quite friendly and personal. It does attract me. Speaker: That is a very good analysis of this advert, actually this was one of the first adverts they used when they launched e-mobile. Well now move onto the second advert, and see if you perceptions about e-mobile start changing. 2nd Advert: Seven/10 Participant 1: Whats the use of having all free, what am I going to use at the end of the day. I would be putting 10 euros every week in my mobile and just piling up credit. Participant 3: Well at on point during the advert theres the small print, so you have to take that into consideration. Participant 2: I did not see that can you show us the video again. Video is replayed another time Participant 2: Oh now that makes sense, it is a bit too expensive, especially for a college student Participant 5: My perception definitely did not change, 10 euros a week that is too expensive. Now Im more sure they are targeting middle aged business people. Speaker: Thanks for your contribution, so now lets pass onto the third advert. This ad is quite recent; you might have seen this on your TV lately, as it is specifically for the Christmas period. 3rd Advert: Making Christmas Easier Participant 1: Definitely its not making Christmas easier for me. Not when you have to top up 10 euros every week. Im not buying that. Participant 6: I am very impressed about the way they are really stressing the friendly personal side of emobile. In the adverts we have seen so far they are trying to generate a friendly environment so you can relate more to the brand.

Participant 3: For me it definitely seems it is for older people Participant 4: I just think the ads are really nice to watch; they are very innovative and are giving a new dimension to the mobile sector. But thats all I barely understand their meaning. Participant 5: I think they might be targeting older people. After all the mother company is Eircom and has been offering landline forever. Participant 6: Well Eircom honestly is quite useless and expensive, they do not want to expand, and they provide very poor customer service. So I am not interested in their mobile brand. Speaker: Now were going to show you a small documentary about the work behind e-mobiles launch. E-mobile Launch Documentary Participant 1: This clearly shows they are not just simply about phones, but they have a range of services and they want to promote their network. Participant 4: It also shows the progression of Eircom from landline, to mobile, to the future of technology. Participant 2: I think they are investing a lot in resources; there are a lot of people in customer service. Participant 6: I liked the fact that they did not utilize anyone popular to endorse the e-mobile brand, they at least show the faces of the people that make e-mobile, making it more credible. Participant 3: I think it was just boring and long. They should compare with other companies not just showing what they offer. Participant 5: it would have been better to use people from their company for their ads. Speaker: Can I ask what networks you are all on? Participant 1: Im on the Meteor network Participant 2: O2, I get great deals there Participant 3: Meteor Participant 4: All my mates are on meteor so it just makes sense to be with that network. Participant 5: O2 Participant 6: My girlfriend bought me the Iphone4 for my birthday and its on the O2 network, I was meteor before though. Speaker: Would you be interested in switching to e-mobile after you saw their advert messages? Participant 5: Id have to see if my friends would move too because its cheaper texting them when we are all on the same network. If its cheaper then I might but it again depends who moves over to the network Participant 1: Eh, I probably wouldnt, meteor gives me free texts and calls like so I dont see the point in switching over to a network Ive no idea about. Participant 3: A Simple no. Ive no interest in switching networks because I get a great deal with meteor. Participant 4: As I said there, all my friends are with meteor so changing over just wouldnt make much sense. You can buy nice phones in meteor and even though Ive never been in the E-mobile shop Id say my phone is still the best out there.

Participant 6: Well Ive just had to move networks recently because I got the IPhone but normally I wouldnt move or even consider it unless someone offered me cheaper calls and texts like and even if I did get that offer, the hassle of changing over is stressful! Participant 2: As I said Im happy with the offers O2 give me. Speaker: Well that concludes our focus group, thank you to everybody for coming; we really appreciate your help. Thanks again.