Positioning Strategies Brand positioning involves creating an image that is understood by the wider public of what a brand stands for. for. Vodafo Vodafone' ne'ss brand brand positi positioni oning ng is: 'Vodaf 'Vodafon onee helps helps people people enjoy enjoy richer richer commun communica icatio tion, n, anywhe anywhere, re, anytime. Always reliable, always easy, always great value ...passionately delivered'. http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/case-study--cause-marketing---vodafones-partnership-with-national-autisticsociety--41-238-6.php Before Vodafone took over Hutch, the positioning strategy followed by Hutch was already a success in the Indi Indian an telec telecom om mark market et.. The The comp compan any y got got a huge huge appr apprec ecia iatio tion n and and prais praisee for for the the award award winn winnin ing g ad campaigns. Differentiating its services from the competitors and presenting it in a form of an advertisement helped Hutch in positioning its brand in a world class manner. Showing its class in the telecom industry was important and that reflected when the company signed the two class acts in their field, Rahul Dravid and Irfan Khan as its brand ambassadors.
Irfan khan popularised the ‘Hutch ka Chhota Recharge’ in his unique style. Most of the times the ad campaigns were run during a cricket season in India. This helped Hutch in reaching out to maximum youth population of the country and was able to position itself effectively when the ads were repeated at a regular interval. A position for the company was established as a company focusing on providing good services to the subscribers by giving them network anywhere. In an ad campaign which said, ‘Wherever you go our network follows’, the position was beautifully created by showing a small boy as a customer and a Pug following the boy as network.
The pug became very famous and was started to be taken as the best brand ambassador of Hutch. The strong network capacity of Hutch became its differentiating factor. Post Hutch Positioning
In 2007, when Vodafone took over hutch, the transition time for the company was very less. Decisions regarding relaunching of brand, positioning, channelizing, etc were taken and implemented in four months. It was important for Vodafone Vodafone to maintain maintain the things things as it is before before making any big change change in the services, services, and to ensure that the company went for the similar ad campaigns with a pug in it trying to show that the pug has got a new home.
The name Vodafone was not new to many Indians as the name frequently appeared in the news. With its strong presence in the global market, the arrival of Vodafone in India was perceived as positive sign for Indian telecom industry as it was expected from the company to raise the standards of the services and bring more competition in the market. Vodafone did not disappoint the subscribers and started an ad campaign specially designed to position itself in the customer service space which was not upto the mark in the local players. The company again used the PUG to tell the customers that they really respect the customers and feel ‘Happy to Help’. The experience of a common Indian customer was not good when trying to call a customer care number and speaking to a representative who was hardly able to help the customer in resolving the issues and problems. The bar for the service quality was raised. The position was created, if you need better services, come to Vodafone.
In 2009, Ogilvy Ogilvy & Mather, the agency that handles Vodafone Vodafone advertisemen advertisements, ts, were asked by Vodafone to create a series of 30 advertisements which could be aired each day during the Second season of Indian Premier League. This time, instead of the Pug, the new characters named ‘Zoo Zoo’ were created and used throughout IPL2. Each ad was used for promoting a particular Value Added Service of Vodafone e.g. Easy recharge, callertunes, internet, roaming, bill payment, SMS packs, music, unwanted calls blocker, etc. The ads were a hit among the Indian people, especially the youth. This trend can be observed from the huge fan following on social networking sites, Facebook, Orkut and Twitter.
Each ad positioned Vodafone as a company dedicated to provide basic and Value added services to the customers in a manner easily understandable and accessible. ZooZoo has become a great marketing story and is one of the best examples of how a simple character becomes the identity of an already existing brand. It caught the attention of the consumers, aroused their curiosity, told them stories and undoubtedly Vodafone has enjoyed tremendous gain in its brand image- thanks to these loveable creatures. In the latest Positioning strategy , Vodafone launched the ‘Power to you’ campaign. Power to you has following feature: •
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"Power to you" comes together with new services that bring the Internet, the email & social communities closer than ever to customers Enhanced user experience of email and Internet on the mobile phone, through the service “Vodafone Internet pe Mobil” which now integrates the Opera Mini browser Easy email access, anytime anywhere, from a broad variety of handsets. Together with the new brand promise, Vodafone refreshes the IVR for easier and improved customer experience.
Vodafone users, both prepaid and postpaid customers, can now perform more self-care transactions through the new IVR system, with no need for them to be transferred to a Vodafone operator, such as: activate or deactivate services like Internet pe mobil, Roaming, Vodafone Passport, MMS, RingBack Tones, etc. This new campaign aims at positioning the company as a service innovator by promising a series of services and offerings that will bring Vodafone customers an improved customer experience and better opportunities. Vodafone App Store
On 15 February 2010, Vodafone launched its mobile application store in India. It has more than 12000 applications, both Indian and International, categorised under Entertainment, Utility, Finance, Social Networking, Games, etc. According to the company a majority of them are paid applications, priced between Rs 0 to Rs 20, and only around 15 percent of applications are free. Users can access the site through Vodafone Live on their GPRS enabled mobile phones.
http://www.medianama.com/2010/03/223-vodafone-launches-mobile-application-store-ipl-tickets/ http://www.vodafone.in/existingusers/vodafonelive/pages/appstore_for_gprsphones.aspx Corporate Sponsorship
As a part of its promotional strategies and positioning itself as a youth brand, Vodafone has been in forefront for providing sponsorships to the various teams and events. In the recent past Vodafone has been associated as a sponsor with the following teams and events: • • • • •
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Spring Fest, Annual Socio-Cultural Festival of IIT Kharagpur, as a Title Sponsor 2008 Techniche 09, Annual Techno-Management Festival of IIT Guwahati, as the Title Sponsor Kshitij, Annual Techno-management festival of IIT Kharagpur, Strategic Partner 2008 Albania national football team, 2008 sponsor Australian cricket team, official sponsor of the Australian test team and home test series from the 2010-11 Ashes, taking over from 3 mobile following f ollowing the two parenting companies merger. Indian Premier League (Cricket), Associate sponsor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula One team , title sponsor (since 2007) UEFA Champions League from the 2006/7 season
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Romania National Football Team, major sponsor from 2006 Solar Powered Phone
On 27th July 2010, Vodafone announced the launch of its latest generation eco-friendly solar charging handset in India. The new handset uses a solar powered solution to benefit users in areas with adequate sunlight. The launch of VF 247 solar powered phone is in keeping with Vodafone’s aim to increase mobile technology accessibility for millions in India. With an extended solar powered battery, the solar powered phone addresses the problem of unstable electricity supply in many rural areas. VF 247 solar powered phone charges by itself, by exposure to ambient light. Sun Boost, the special inbuilt hardware and software ensures that the phone charges also in a room, under normal daylight. http://www.vodafone.in/existingusers/Pages/MediaRoom_PressRelease.aspx?rid=949
