Brand : Tata Indicom True paid
Baseline : Do more live more
The product from tata indicom prepaid is revolutionary since it "talks"about the incoming free for two years even without recharging ( not sure about the fine print). A great marketing idea that is similar to the campaign of Reliance Infocomm 501 mobile campaign which changed the Indian telecom industry for the better.
Earlier prepaid cards were having a disadvantage of having to be recharged everymonth which proved to be a disadvantage and companies had to ensure that they reach every point of the market and distribution reach was a deciding factor. This new product ensures the flexibility of the consumer to wait and purchase the coupon at his convenience.
But the campaign is nothing but a waste of money. I cannot comment more on the ads with prize catch of Kajol and Ajay Devganm. The message appears to be comic but ...... well I reserve my comments.
There is no clue as to who the target customers are?
Business class/ students/ professionals/ laymen , no idea? My dear marketing friends at Tata Indicom, please think about this.
It is a good product and unless the message is seriously executed. The product may sell because it is good, but just wait for Reliance or other firms to take this idea and make a market out of this. Just like the concept of " golden eye technology" was developed by videocon but executed with perfection by LG.
All the best Indicom.
TATA Indicom Prepaid: Interesting Point of View!!!
ReplyDeleteThe arguments that you have raised are very truly relevant in the current wireless telecom business model in India. Your observation on Reliance's role in bringing about a telecom revolution is true. However, I would call Reliance ONLY as a change leader in the mobile telephony business in India. They brought mobiles into the hands of the Indian (common) man. This they claim is the fulfilment of the late (Great) Mr Dhiribhai Ambani, who envisaged telephone calls at the price of a post card.
(Something in line with Henry Ford, "Car for every American). Reliance went about to make that happen and was successful at that. After doing just that, I guess they failed to deliver and that they have a war to fight; retaining customers. As far as I know, Reliance customers seem to be never satisfied with the services, especially Billing.
TATA Indicom, on the other hand was a late entrant into the market. They were'nt flexible in terms of the handsets they could offer, tariffs and a lot other things. I personally had very serious grievances with them initially, in jan 2004. After they attained their level of maturity in the market, I am happy to say that I have no
single grievance with them at all TILL DATE. As a matter of fact, if such situation arises that I buy another mobile telephone then it is going to be a CDMA/3G AND that too from TATA Indicom. Maybe the 2 year free incoming offer, if I like the handset that comes bundled with the offer. I havent checked the options yet, becuase I am not buying one; but if they do not have a NOKIA then I am not taking the offer.
Well, what I wanted to discuss is about the target audience of this offer. You are proficient person on marketing and I am not. Illiterate that way, and I run a miniscule business that involves reselling certain telecom technology products. I am the CEO and the salesman and the accountant and the...., well, I hope you get the point. In our lives, small time traders, cash flow is what keeps us alive. A delayed payment by a week is a disaster f or us. You could imagine the sort of financial implications that we go through and telephones are something that is our lifeline. We cant afford tolive a single hour without our phones. And many a times, when we have hefty bills to pay; suspended connections; lost opportunities; what I hoped for was a prepaid connection that would go on and on and on until the next recharge. Very
true to AMC/field support personnel, students living away from homes, businesses, you name them. And that is what the new TATA Indicom offer is trying to build. For me it is a fantastic product and it is for everyone and in the state I live, TATA has double the number of connections that the leading GSM provider, Airtel. Henceforth, my guess is that you have your arguments based on the way you use your phone.
As Kajol says, kyonki insaan phone lete hein tarakki karne ke liye" seems so true to me. Moreover, I have always looked at TATA's as a laid back (sales) company and by now I have happily changed my opinion. Kudos to TATA Teleservices. To prove the point, Hutch has come out with
'FULL' recharge for denominations as low as Rs.10. So for me the clear winner is TATA Indicom and I believe with the ambiguity that you saw in the advert, there are thousands of people like me, from all walks of lives, who are realisong the benefit and making favourable decisions for TATA Indicom. You did argue that eliance or someone else would cash in on the idea; well, Hutch has and probably would Reliance. But hey, they are gonna follow the leader. I guess the sales figures would
be the right indicator of success and as far as I know in my state the clear winner is TATA in the mobile telephony segment. (Please note that it is not CDMA but mobile telephony in total). Cost of Ownership, Uninterrupted Communication, No-Loss of Opportunity and Value for Money are the features that I can see and irrespective of the spectrum people who value these features will defenitely associate with the product.
I read yet another blog of yours which said something to the effect that the company failed to understand the utility of the product (or otherwise), and TATA, as far as I know has done their due diligence in bringing out a winner. Well, these are my observastions; correct me if I am wrong since I dont understand marketing and sales like an acadamecian.
I agree partially with the heading 'A revolutionary product : killed by poor advertising.The kind of services they offer like, 2 years of free incoming,free calls within the same network .
ReplyDeleteOn the first place selecting celebrities like Kajol and Ajay Devgan are not appropriate.Since the Brand is more about comparitively slashed call rates and free calls within the same network,the target audience should primarily be youth . And Tata handsets needs serious thoughts.