Building innovative marketing tactics

To target the customers effectively, mobile phone companies such as Nokia and Sony Ericsson are coming up with exclusive ‘concept stores’ which offer a total brand experience through live displays by skilled workforce who will showcase the entire range of handsets allowing customers to experience touch and feel of the product through redefined retail experience. Taking into account the chaotic shopping experience in India, the telecom companies have started reducing prices of their products and services to bring the consumers to stores. Some of these are:

• Value-Added Services: Currently, mobile value-added services (MVAS) in India accounts for 10 per cent of the operator's revenue, which is expected to touch 18 per cent by 2010. According to a study by Stanford University and consulting firm BDA, the Indian MVAS is poised to touch $ 2.74 billion by 2010.

Despite selling mobile phones of different labels, the mobile handset companies have now started stocking up i-pods, mp3, pen-drives, and mobile accessories including Bluetooth, earphones, memory cards, chargers, pouches and rechargeable coupons as well. With increasing competition in the telecom sector, companies are focusing on introducing new value added services (VAS) to their subscribers which includes,– SMS-based services, downloading ring tones, games, internet accessibility, caller tunes, music, daily news, infotainment, stock market reviews, international roaming and astrology services, just to name a few.

• After-sales service: Offering an after-sales service to the consumer plays an important role in the telecom industry. To cater to this huge demand, companies such as Nokia, The Mobile Store and Mobizone are the leading refurbishing and repair service providers to all leading telecommunication companies for every range of their products. For instance, Mobizone has ultra-modern level four service centres in Noida, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai to serve the consumers. The Mobile Store provides its repair services through a very highly skilled after sales service team present across the country.
• Sourcing & manufacturing products: For sourcing various mobile handsets and other accessories, the companies have tie-ups with vendors in India and other international markets. For instance, Mobizone sources its products from countries in Asia and Far East, its principle sourcing has been from world renowned manufacturing companies in China. Mobizone head, emphasizes, “The products undergo rigorous quality control tests, and only then are approved for sale. Many of our products, spares are backed by replacement warranty.” On the other hand, Agarwal adds, “We are in direct contact with various leading brands and source their products either directly or through their national distributors.” Apart from mobile handset manufacturers such as Nokia, Samsung and LG, India’s Micromax is also planning to invest Rs 100 crore next year to start the mobile handset production at its plant in Himachal Pradesh.
• Merchandise in style: VM is all about communicating the brand to the customers. To increase the footfalls in stores, the store walk-ins must be lively and vibrant enough to catch the glimpse of the customer on the go. On this Bali, believes, “Visual merchandising serves as the silent salesman - promoting, highlighting and educating the customer thus facilitating an engaging shopping experience.” The company consistently works towards refreshing and enlivening the visual appeal of its outlets through innovative design and application.
• New brands: The new entrants in the telecom industry include Telenor Group’s Indian venture Uninor, Aircel and Bahrain based Stel which recently formed a Joint venture with Chennai based Siva Group to launch mobile services in India. Other brands like Lemon mobile, Airphone, Lava mobiles, Onida mobiles and Karbonn mobiles and Taiwan based BenQ, the largest mobile phone manufacturer also made its entry into highly competitive telecom sector. 

The growth continues

In an attempt to increase the footprint, companies have begun franchise operations to reach the consumers effectively. Currently, Spice Retail has over 683 stores across the country which is a combination of company-owned and franchise outlets. To extend company’s operations beyond, Bali enlightens, “We are currently experimenting with a couple of different models in different regions which should increase our retail footprint to about 2000 by the year end of 2010.” He adds, “A strong presence across the Mobile eco-system (Handsets, Mobile VAS, Mobile & Technology retail, BPO) makes it an excellent opportunity to be a part of this ever growing market.” 

At present, The Mobile Store has about 1,300 stores. On the other hand, Agarwal says, “We are planning approximately 2,00 stores by 2010. We are targeting to increase our reach in the existing 200 cities that we are present in as well as extend our coverage in the attractive tier II and III cities where high growth is seen in the telecom industry.”  On the other hand, Mobizone has five company-owned and 75 franchise stores in India. Mobizone head adds, “In 2010, the company plans to have 30 company-owned and 180 franchised outlets. To open a Mobizone outlet, a franchisee would require a capital investment of Rs 60,000 to 70,000 within a space of 150-200 sq.ft.”

With the increasing subscriber base and emergence of specialty retailers in the telecom industry, the market of mobile handsets is anticipating a double digit growth in the years to come. As the market saturates, the companies are leveraging on adding more value-added services to their portfolio to reach consumers in urban as well rural areas.