Anupam Vasudev, Chief Marketing Officer, Aircel talks to us about the brand’s mass appeal, marketing strategies and what gives it an edge over competition
Q] Tell us something about your latest Limit se Zyada campaign.
Aircel has been innovating in the data space and through our revolutionizing products and services, we have been able to cement our distinct position in making mobile internet accessible and affordable for the masses. We launched a new and attractive mass campaign “Limit Se Zyada” with an intent to augment mobile internet adoption in the country and encourage people to experience the benefits of it.
Q] You have rolled out a revolutionary plan of unlimited 3G internet @ Rs 9. What kind of reception has this received?
3G internet @Rs.9 has been adopted by over 1.5 million unique users and around 6 million recharges have been done in the last quarter. What was more surprising was that 45% of them were first time data users. This is a testament of the constant innovations that we at Aircel strive so that our customers can have a delightful experience.
Q] What are the fundamental principles of your marketing strategy? What does your marketing mix look like?
Aircel is a challenger brand and strives to constantly innovate and create products and services that are based on our customer’s requirements. In a bid to achieve this, we always believe in ‘doing a little extra’ for our customers and hence have adopted a holistic marketing approach to reach out to our target groups and offer them value in all our products and services.
Q] Which medium utilizes a major chunk of your advertising and marketing spends?
TV still remains the major vehicle since it has the widest scope and reach. Today, advertising has become geo-targeted and through TV, we are able to spread our message across regions. However, we also go beyond the scope of television by exploring other mediums like radio and social media.
Q] Aircel was supposed to launch mass market 4G by the end of 2015 after having initially launched it in four circles. What are the updates considering Airtel and Vodafone have already embarked on a 4G ad war?
We launched 4G in 2014 for the enterprise customers, and it is known as 4G LTE. It is doing well for us and we have a good clientele of SMEs and SMBs on board. As yet, we do not offer 4G on individual connections. We believe that for 4G to really pick up pace in India, the entire telecom ecosystem needs to develop a little more. As of now, people are still yet to adopt mobile internet or yet to buy 4G-enabled handsets. However, Aircel sees huge potential in this technology and we are working towards developing the entire ecosystem for the mobility.
Q] Your #DeleteaTweet campaign during V Day was very innovative and sent out a great message. How did you come up with the idea and how was it received?
We, along with our creative partner DDB Mudra Group launched #DeleteATweet on Valentine’s Day to spread the message of love on Twitter. The digital campaign called for an active participation from social media users by deleting at least one negative Tweet from last year and Tweeting a nicer tweet using the hasthtag #DeleteATweet. The response has been overwhelming. The video gained close to 4 Lakh views on Twitter along with 101 million impressions from 6012 Twitter mentions. The campaign reached out to more than 2 million users on Facebook. The hashtags #DeleteATweet and #SaySomethingSweet were also the top trenders on Valentine’s Day this year.
Q] Can you share some growth figures with us?
Aircel has always been committed to the growth of mobile telephony in India and has made substantial investments to make sure out networks are ready to cater to this increasing demand. Data penetration
is substantially growing day by day. The industry recorded data revenue growth of more than 11% in the Q3 of 2015 and we did better than the industry.
Q] What are you doing in the digital space to connect with your consumer?
Aircel has a significant digital presence through social communities, blogger engagements, website and media promotions. Our approach is to keep the conversations going through continuous engagements and contests, to drive brand love. Digital also plays a key role as a business enhancer where new and customized offerings are served to sharply target current and prospective customer groups. Customer care is one of the key pillars that digital helps in fulfilling as today customer demands real time solution of problems.
Q] How are the different initiatives working out in terms of connect and reach?
There is continuous and meaningful engagement with our 10,000K Facebook fans and 635K Twitter followers with the objective of reinforcing Aircel’s brand philosophy of ‘do a little extra’. The focus is clearly to have communication, engagement and contests that resonate with our audience, at the same time develop a unique voice for the brand on this platform.
Q] What are some of the interesting BTL activities, sales promotions that you have engineered to increase consumer engagement?
All round the year, we plan our activities meticulously to maintain brand recall with our customers through innovative and fun campaigns. We customize and surprise our customers with special discounted offers during festive seasons as well as festival promotion offers. Friday sales, 3G experience zones in semi urban areas for customers to experience 3G as well as migrant support programmes are some of our unique initiatives we have undertaken in the past.
Q] What’s the USP of the brand? What differentiates you from your competition?
Since the inception of the company, Aircel has remained consistent on innovation and affordability. Aircel took the first step in making 3G affordable for the masses. We launched Smart Pocket Internet data plans which truly changed the way mobile internet was perceived and consumed. We have created disruption in the industry with our unique offerings that have had a tremendous impact in the industry and we continue to surprise market with our unique offerings.
Q] How does the brand approach Tier II and Tier III markets? Do you compartmentalize your strategy for rural and urban consumers?
Aircel is a mass market brand that caters to a diverse mix of customers across the country. Our main focus is the urban and semi urban market space which has a dynamic customer segment that is evolving and increasing exponentially and revolutionizing the Telecom space. However, in certain circles like Assam, North east, UP and Bihar, we are reaching out to our growing rural customer base through innovative value-for-money products.
Q] What challenge do you see going forward?
Like most telecom operators in the industry, we are also looking at ways to reduce operational costs without compromising the quality of our services.
Q] What will your broad marketing strategy be for the next year?
We firmly believe that internet is for all and through our constant efforts of innovating products and services, we aim to make Aircel a gateway to the internet for all. There has been a dramatic increase in the sales of smartphones which has led to a widespread need of data, especially for the youth. We’re confident that our products not only greatly ease the pockets of our new customers, but also help to fuel internet adoption in the country for those who still aren’t online. With Aircel’s new, attractive mass campaign that appeals to all to ‘Be online with Aircel’, we aim to continue driving a much sharper growth this year, which will help us take data to the next level of growth and acceptance in India.
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