Airtel Case Study
PROLOGUE
This case study looks at the strategy of Bharti Airtel to promote its brand with a focus on the youth and how it has very effectively used the brand elements to connect with the users and added the social dimension to it. This case study illustrates brand building of Airtel through the sports sponsorship and youth oriented campaigning. This case highlights how ‘Sports Sponsorship’ has emerged as a unique medium of brand building because of its standout presence and youth appeal. Sports sponsorship is by far the most popular sponsorship medium, offering high visibility, extensive television and press coverage, the ability to attract both a broad cross-section of the community and to serve specific niches, and importantly the capacity to break down cultural barriers
COMPANY PROFILE
Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications service company headquartered in New Delhi, India. It operates in 20 countries across South Asia, Africa, and the Channel Islands. Airtel has GSM network in all countries in which it operates, providing 2G, 3G and 4G services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel is the world's fourth largest mobile telecommunications company by subscribers with over 275 million subscribers across 20 countries as of July 2013. It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with 191.39 million subscribers as of July 2013[1].
Sunil Bharti Mittal founded the Bharti Group [2]. In 1983, Mittal was in an agreement with Germany's Siemens to manufacture push-button telephone models for the Indian market. In 1986, Mittal incorporated Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL), and his company became the first in India to offer push-button telephones, establishing the basis of Bharti Enterprises. By the early 1990s, Sunil Mittal had also launched the country's first fax machines and its first cordless telephones. In 1992, Mittal won a bid to build a cellular phone network in Delhi.
This case study looks at the strategy of Bharti Airtel to promote its brand with a focus on the youth and how it has very effectively used the brand elements to connect with the users and added the social dimension to it. This case study illustrates brand building of Airtel through the sports sponsorship and youth oriented campaigning. This case highlights how ‘Sports Sponsorship’ has emerged as a unique medium of brand building because of its standout presence and youth appeal. Sports sponsorship is by far the most popular sponsorship medium, offering high visibility, extensive television and press coverage, the ability to attract both a broad cross-section of the community and to serve specific niches, and importantly the capacity to break down cultural barriers
COMPANY PROFILE
Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications service company headquartered in New Delhi, India. It operates in 20 countries across South Asia, Africa, and the Channel Islands. Airtel has GSM network in all countries in which it operates, providing 2G, 3G and 4G services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel is the world's fourth largest mobile telecommunications company by subscribers with over 275 million subscribers across 20 countries as of July 2013. It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with 191.39 million subscribers as of July 2013[1].
Sunil Bharti Mittal founded the Bharti Group [2]. In 1983, Mittal was in an agreement with Germany's Siemens to manufacture push-button telephone models for the Indian market. In 1986, Mittal incorporated Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL), and his company became the first in India to offer push-button telephones, establishing the basis of Bharti Enterprises. By the early 1990s, Sunil Mittal had also launched the country's first fax machines and its first cordless telephones. In 1992, Mittal won a bid to build a cellular phone network in Delhi.