Introduction:
Every company goes through an intense planning session to identify customers’
needs, wants and demands by developing and designing product or service to meet their expectations in order to make profit by creating customer equity.
Qubee is a new and exciting company from Augere providing fast and reliable broadband internet services to residential and business customers across Bangladesh. They believe that everyone should be able to enjoy trouble-free access to the internet and the world of opportunities that it brings. Their aim is to make a magical internet experience available to everyone, everyday, without exception.
Qubee is the creation of a group of global telecoms professionals who saw that a new technology called 4G could really change the internet experience for millions of people worldwide. They are building a network of base stations to offer our brand of internet access right across Bangladesh. They have started in Dhaka, but quickly plan to do the same in cities nationwide.
Building a network like this needs to be done properly. So they have gathered a highly talented team right here in Bangladesh to build a company that’s determined to improve the
internet experience for millions of people – not just here, but ultimately all over the world.
Objective of the study: The primary objective of this study is to find out the marketing strategies of Qubee and segmenting, targeting and positioning for their service. The main objectives are: -
Showing the strategy that Qubee use to segment, target and position for their service
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Defining the marketing mix
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Analyzing SWOT
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Preparing ourselves for the job market
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Improving our report writing skills
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Being familiar with the practices of our theoretical knowledge and how they are implied in the real world
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Gathering practical knowledge about development of marketing strategy
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Knowing segmenting, targeting and positioning strategy
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Meeting the curiosity about stated subject.
Methodology of the study: Research Method: We had to go through an intense research session in order to complete this paper. On our way of completion, we followed two ways of research:
Research Method
External way
Internal way
Considering the subject matter, we have chosen the internal way of research.
Primary Sources: Methods of collecting primary data:
Face to face survey
Interview
Experiments
Observations
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From primary source we have managed to find out some information about the company as mentioned below: 60
50
40 High
30
Neutral Low 20
10
0 Awarness
Preference
Performance
Expectation
Advantage
Advertisement
We did survey on 51 people and found out important information.
Secondary Sources: Methods of collecting secondary data:
Websites
Newspapers
Existing research papers
Text books
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Limitations of the study: While writing this paper we faced some obstacles. These are given below:
Writing this kind of paper requires huge amount of time and effort. Within the short period of time we tried and yes we wrote the report correctly and successfully.
Some information on sales, distributions and marketing strategies are prohibited to publish and pretty much tough to collect. Although it may question the quality of the paper, but we tried our level best to provide the best information possible.
This kind of works are solely dependent on real world works, so lack of this kind of work experience is the main constraints of the study.
Different people have different set of ideology and attitude. It is challenging to work with other people to achieve something. This study gave us the opportunity to work as a team. And as a team we concentrated ourselves into a point and got the job done.
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SWOT Analysis: SWOT analysis measures the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and strengths involved in a project or business venture. It is essential because it helps to define the goal and develop planning of the organization. To have a closer look at the brand Qubee, SWOT analysis is presented here.
Strengths: Strengths mean determining an organization’s strong points. Strength is a “resource advantage relative to competitors and the needs of the markets a firm serves or expects to serve” . Strengths arise from the resources and competencies available to the
firm.
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Prices: Price of Qubee packages is very competitive.
Different Packages: Qubee has different packages both prepaid and postpaid.
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Prepaid:
Tk. 700 card recharge gives you 30 day validity Tk. 400 card recharge gives you 30 day validity. Tk. 100 card recharge gives you 7 days validity
Postpaid:
Effective marketing strategy: Qubee emphasizes on Mouth Marketing instead of TV advertising. Mouth/Buzz marketing proved very effective since brand awareness i s high.
Home service and pre-installation manual: Qubee provides Home service and preinstallation manual to ensure that the customers are served properly.
Distribution channels: Different distribution channels for different segment proved effective.
Customer service: Qubee’s expert customer service providers are there for you 24/7.
Weakness: It means determining an organization’s weaknesses, not only from its point of view, but also more importantly, from customers. Although it may be difficult for an organization to acknowledge its weaknesses it is best to handle the bitter reality without procrastination. A
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weakness is a “ limitation or deficiency in one or more resources or competencies relative to competitors that impedes a firm’s effective performance”.
Network coverage: Although Qubee’s network coverage is greater than its competitors; it needs to expand its network quicker to keep its promise of experiencing real internet.
Low customer retention: It is one of the major weaknesses of a company.
Unreliable service: Although Qubee promised real internet experience, its service still is not up to the mark. Its existence is hanging by a threat if it doesn’t improve its service quickly.
Complicated pricing structure: Because of providing numerous packages, Qubee’s pricing structure seems messed up.
Opportunities: It is an external analysis. Organizational opportunities are detected from the environment and property be exploited to lead the organization toward higher performance and gaining competitive advantage.
Growing market: Wimax technology is very new in Bangladesh like the other developing country. The market is in growing condition now. So Qubee has enough opportunity to capture this growing market.
Available Segment to enter: New segments are available for Qubee to enter. As in telecom industry, GrameenPhone and the other companies have entered different segments. Qubee can also grab new segments for future growth.
Public Interest: Wimax has different advantages beside its high speed. By promotion and other things, people are really interested on it. Qubee can take this chance to promote itself.
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Threats: Any particular area of external environment can provide disadvantageous position for Qubee, which can prohibit the achievement of higher performance ends.
Existing Competitors: -----
Banglalion: It is the greatest threat for Qubee. Although Qubee has
competitive advantage over Banglalion, it still needs to work on many things to be clearly ahead. -----
Other Wireless ISP: Qubee has to compete with other wireless ISP too.
Cellular service provider may grab the market share by offering attractive packages and greater speeds since they already have the better network coverage.
Political Unrest: Political unrest is a great threat for the business organizations, and Qubee is no different from the. So it should be kept in mind while taking new strategies.
New competitor: New competitor may enter into the market any time. If Qubee doesn’t hold the strong position in the market, it may face a great competition in the future.
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Segmentation:
Market Segment
User Rate
Benefits
Heavy User
High Speed
(Sky Package)
1 to 2 MBPS
Medium User
Moderate Speed
(12 to 24 GB)
Distribution Channel Corporate Users
Home Users
512 kbps
Light User (6 -11 GB)
From above we can easily understand the segmentation. Qubee segmented market based on User Rate, Benefits and Distribution Channels.
User Rate: In this attribute there are three segments. For Heavy Users, Qubee has sky package which provides freedom to use unlimited. For Medium Users, Qubee has 12 to 24 GB package and for Light User, Qubee has small package 6 to 11 GB usage. So segmenting the market according to user rate enabled Qubee to target more precisely to satisfy the target market.
Benefits: In the internet user market there are two types of users: 1. High Speed Internet Users and 2. Moderate Speed Internet Users. Segmenting according to benefits provides Qubee to know which customers wants what. So they can easily target its segment and can launch package.
Distribution Channel: In this attribute Qubee found out two segments: 1. Corporate Users and 2. Home Users. So they can easily differentiate their products and services.
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Targeting:
Segment
User Rate
Benefits
Distribution channels
Heavy
Medium
Light
User
Users
users
Sky
12 to
6 to
package
24 GB
11 GB
Normal
High
Corporate
Home
speed
Speed
users
Users
Targeting
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Positioning: Positioning is a perceptual location. It's where your product or service fits into the marketplace. Effective positioning puts you first in line in the minds of potential customers. In the market, organizations continually position themselves. These identifiers help to define an organization and distinguish abilities as unique and different from other organizations. Positioning is a powerful tool that allows creating an image, and image is the outward representation of being what an organization wants to be.
Position in the market place evolves from the defining characteristics of product or services. Qubee wants to create its positioning through providing ‘The Real Internet Experience’ to the
customers. The primary elements of positioning are:
Pricing: Qubee should be careful while pricing its packages. Customers are very much pricing sensitive. If they understand that they are not being served well, it will be difficult for the company to make loyal customer and to create a position in the market.
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Quality: Qubee promised ‘real internet experience’ to its customers. So the company must keep its promise by not letting down its quality management. If quality is maintained, customer will stick with the service as a result a good relation with the customer will be made. To make position in the market, guarantee and warranty must be fulfilled correctly and timely otherwise customer will lose faith in the company. Qubee should be more focused on the quality management than it ever was.
Service: Qubee can offer customized packages for its users. If they do, it will be an unique move in the WiMAX market which will push them over the edge. For example, they can offer high speed internet, moderate usage limit at a competitive price for the student or they can offer them to design their own package according to their demands.
Distribution: Currently Qubee’s distribution channels and partners have a competitive advantage. Different distribution channels are working for different segments.
Packaging : Qubee should be concerned about their packaging to maintain its standard.
Marketing mix Marketing mix is the set of some controllable elements by which a company can create and capture value. It is known as 4ps’ and sometimes 8Ps’. Marketing mix of Qubee is shown below-
Product: There are three parts of any product or service which are
1. Core benefit 2. Actual product 3. Augmented product For Qubee,
Core benefit:
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The real internet experience
Actual product: 1. Qubee wimax modem 2. 1GB, 2GB, 6GB,12 GB Package @512kbps,1Mbps and 2 Mbps. 3. Installation manual 4. Attractive greenpacket stand 5. Attractive packaging
Augmented product: 1. One year warranty at modem 2. Free installation 3. 24×7 customer service: preparing, distributing, and collecting the bills, activating new connections, deactivating connections, helpline service, interchanging of the WiMAX modems, collecting the faulty and repairable modems, returning repaired modems, changing modems and so on.
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2.Price As Qubee first introduce wimax in Bangladesh they took the first mover advantage. They followed the price skimming strategy to enter into the market. The practice of ‘price skimming’
involves charging a relatively high price for a short time where a new, innovative, or muchimproved product is launched onto a market. The objective behind choosing skimming strategy is to “skim” off customers who are willing to pay more to have the product sooner. On the
other hand when a new company comes to a new market they have to bear a large amount of pioneering cost. That is why in this situation they always try to charge high price for their product. Also when they are determining the price for their product they bound to follow the rules of price ceiling that is set by the BTRC. Now they are following different pricing strategies
Value Based pricing: Qubee is following value based pricing. They consider the purchasing power of their customers while deciding the price range. However they evaluate the speed and maximum access which can be provided by them within that range and fix the price for every segment.
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Product line pricing: product line pricing is different price for different range, or different service offered, their connections are shared connection, different package like sky and campus have different price, as sky has no access limitation so it’s a bit higher in price, and for campus speed and access limitation has cap on it so the price varies.
3.Place Qubee sales and distribution team has five sub departments. These are…..
1. Direct Sales 2. Corporate Sales 3. Tele Sales 4. Distributor 5. Retail Shop Direct sales team handles the home users and SME. They try to make the product available to the single or home users. In Dhaka city there is more than 50,000 SME. So Qubee targeted those SME and the direct sales team works with those organizations. Corporate Sales team works with the corporate clients. Some renowned companies are its corporate clients. They are…….
1. American Embassy 2. Standard Chartered Bank 3. BRAC Bank 4. World Bank and so on. There is a separate office for the manager of corporate sales who is also responsible for corporate customer relations. Corporate customers are given high priority in terms of sales and
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also in terms of after sales service. Of course this is due to the high usage and need for good long term goodwill with such corporate clients. This department however deals mainly with sales to corporate customers and maintenance of relations with both current clients as well as scouting out potential new corporate clients, whereas the after sales service and other issues are dealt with by the customer services operations section of the company. Distributor makes sure that Qubee product is available in the market. They get commission on modem and bandwidth price. Tele sales team sale Qubee connection by making call to the potential customers. They have some customer group from the business corporate world. For selling to those people they adopt telemarketing approach Qubee is distributing their product through their own outlet and third party distributor. They have their own outlet in Gulshan 2 at Casablanka Store and they are using Transcom as third party to distribute their product. They have also given exclusive right to some computer accessories selling company which are located in IDB to distribute their product.
4.Promotion: The brand department of the company deals with image of the brand to the customers. It basically helps the brand to portray its intentioned image to the potential target group. This department along with the Marketing Communication department deals with the promotional activities. As Qubee is very new organization and WiMax is a very new concept that’s why
Qubee have to give too much effort and promotional activities to let the people know about their product and services. Branding team is trying to promote their Qubee product. They have organized different events to promote their product. At first they do campaign in different universities, which worked a lot. Qubee is now giving advertisements to different renowned news papers in Bangladesh and they are also giving advertisement to the different website to
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promote their product. They are also giving advertisements in the Radio like Radio Amar, Radio Foorti etc. They are using Billboard also to promote their product. Qubee have build experience booth in different places to give the practical experience to their subscribers and they have highly focused on that Experience booth to promote their product. It is now possible to try out the real internet experience from Qubee at your well-known coffee shop or shopping mall.
Public relation: Qubee does different sorts of public relation activities to promote their product in the market which involves different University campus campaign. They are offering campus package especially for the students and they are arranging different campus campaign to sell their product. They are also arranging different concerts to grab the attention of the customers.
Recommendation: After going through the above project work over QUBEE we found, QUBEE is trying to grab all the opportunities to be successful in Bangladesh Broadband Market. But considering Bangladeshi consumers, we would like to draw their attention over some of the following facts.
Brand name should be easy to understand and communicate but QUBEE is a Latin American word which means Head, works without wire. It’s really appropriate for Broadband service. But
for Bangladeshi consumers may not
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accept it properly. We have several examples in telecommunication industry that became successful by adoption local names (Like: Orascom as Banglalink, Telenor as Grameenphone) and some failed (Like:WARID with ZEM and ZAHI packages)to continue business for their foreign name.
QUBEE could offer more product packages with variable features to compete the other broadband companies. Like: Banglalion has more product variation than QUBEE. More product variation helps a company to be unique. Even it creates threats to competitors if they try to challenge the company. Even Banglalion has more product variation than QUBEE has. So, they should offer more product packages with variable features.
QUBEE should come up with TV advertisement as early as possible because as they are launching new product in present market so their prime function to create consumers. Here Television media has no alternatives. They may provide expert opinion (IT engineer) or celebrity’s opinion through their advertisement. And of course they need to highlight the
various uses and benefits of using wireless broadband services.
QUBEE should highlight about country of origin (they bought modem from GERMAN) while promoting product, because Bnagladeshi consumers has strong faith over foreign product. It will help QUBEE to have a lime light over their product price and quality as well.
QUBEE should consider pricing of their product Bangladesh has price sensitive market. At present consequence, it has seen QUBEE has high price. If QUBEE wants to continue with this price they should focus over their quality service and promote their product on this basic.
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QUBEE should offer some discount for existing users to create brand loyalty. Like: discount over uses.
QUBEE should concern more about their competitors. I agree at present they might not have too many rival, but Bangladesh broadband market is not so large so they should be more innovate about their product and aware about their competitors (Banglalion and BRAC Net)
QUBEE should more concentrate on CSR activities. At present they are not doing CSR activities. To build up their brand loyalty and customers they should come up with some CSR activities.
Conclusion We would like to start the conclusion part by restating the hypothesis of our study. Our hypothesis was, "Although Qubee is leading the market of WiMAX internet service with a sharp distance, and their customers are not fully satisfied with the company's services. If Qubee does not take care of these dissatisfactions and another company enters the market with similar offers, it will be difficult for Qubee to keep the current market share intact."
Sources: 1. http://www.qubee.com.bd th
2. Marketing Management 13 edition (Philip Kotler) 3. Different Articles 4. Existing research paper 5. Surveys
