Report

Topic – PUBLIC RELATION (with emphasis on Vodafone)

Submitted to: Ms Anuja Mathur

Submitted By: Kartik (4468) Rohit (4467) Ravi (4469)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

With profound respect and gratitude, we take the

opportunity to convey our thanks to our Project Guide Prof,

Anuja Mathur for her able guidance, valuable opinions and

healthy criticism, which have gone a long way in enabling us

to complete this project successfully. In spite of being

occupied with other assignments, she has been kind enough

to guide and advice us at all stages.

We wish to express our gratitude to Mr. Rohit Kumar

(Employee, Vodafone, Basant lok) and other staff members

for their support and providing us information.

Finally, we thank our institute for its support and the

provisions it has extended to us during the course of our

project.

Vodafone

Introduction to the Company:

Vodafone Essar in India is a subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc

and commenced operations in 1994 when its predecessor

Hutchison Telecom acquired the cellular license for Mumbai.

Vodafone Essar now has operations in 16 circles covering

86% of India’s mobile customer base, with over 34.1 million

customers*.

Over the years, Vodafone Essar, under the Hutch brand, has

been named the 'Most Respected Telecom Company', the

'Best Mobile Service in the country' and the 'Most Creative

and Most Effective Advertiser of the Year'. Vodafone is the

world's leading international mobile communications

company. It now has operations in 25 countries across 5

continents and 40 partner networks with over 200 million

customers worldwide. Vodafone has partnered with the Essar

Group as its principal joint venture partner for the Indian

market.

The Essar Group is a diversified business corporation with

interests spanning the manufacturing and service sectors

like Steel, Energy, Power, Communications, Shipping &

Logistics and Construction. The Group has an asset base of

over Rs.400 billion (US$ 10 billion) and employs over 20,000

people.

Introduction to Vodafone India:

Vodafone, the world’s leading international mobile

communications company, has fully arrived in India. The

Vodafone brand was launched in India on 21st September,

2007.

The popular and endearing brand, Hutch, was transitioned to

Vodafone across India. That marked a significant chapter in

the evolution of Vodafone as a dynamic and ever-growing

brand. The brand was unveiled nationally through a high

profile campaign covering all important media.

Vodafone, the world’s leading mobile telecommunication

company, had completed the acquisition of Hutchison Essar

in May 2007 and the company was formally renamed

Vodafone Essar in July 2007. The Vodafone mission is to be

the communications leader in an increasingly connected

world – enriching customers’ lives, helping individuals,

businesses and communities be more connected by

delivering their total communication needs.

Vodafone's logo is a true representation of that belief - The

start of a new conversation, a trigger, a catalyst, a mark of

true pioneering.

Objectives and Mission of the PR dept:

The main objective of the PR dept is to create a positive

image of Vodafone in the minds of its customers. For the

launches of any new services or mobile phones intense PR is

their objective. The Vodafone mission is to be the

communications leader in an increasingly connected world –

enriching customers’ lives, helping individuals, businesses

and communities be more connected by delivering their total

communication needs. The next objective of Vodafone is to

cover as much market as possible on the basis of the service

that they provide. Their next objective is that their

customers benefit from a complete Vodafone experience in

and out of their homes and offices. Their main aim and

mission is to give their customers a consistent experience.

While entering India their main objective and mission was to

create a visibility of their company and promote it in a very

positive way by promoting the global image of Vodafone.

The other objective was to appear as a leader.

Hierarchy:

The PR dept in Mumbai has been started only a month back and it only has 1 employee i.e the PR Head

Factors considered while formulating PR strategies:

One of the factors in formulating the PR strategies is that

whenever a mention of the telecom industry is made,

positive articles of Vodafone has to be made. Their main aim

is to promote the brand Vodafone and its services. They also

keep in mind that the right medium of communication is

used to reach the target public, there target being each and

every person right from a milkman to high-profile people.

They also keep in mind that they maintain good relations

with the media so that media can help them out when they

are in need of them.

Budget:

CEOMr. Arun Sarin

Central Unit for India

Outside AgencyGenesis

PR Head Mumbai

There is a pre-determined budget. This budget is devised by

the central unit of India and is then passed down to various

circles, Mumbai being one of them. PR head needs to

formulate all the strategies along with the outside agency i.e

Genesis which sits in the corporate office only. The major

expense of the PR department is the fees that they pay to

the outside agency.

PR strategies used by Vodafone as a whole:

Advertisements: Vodafone believes in advertising through

media like television and press as people retain those things

that they view visually. Heavy mounts of money is spent on

visual advertisements.

Corporate Advertising: Vodafone also undertakes

corporate advertising. The PR department informs the

spokesperson Mr. Navin Chopra which details he can reveal

and which he shouldn’t reveal. He has to be very polite while

handling the media. They give everything in writing to the

media. The PR department also informs Mr. Navin about how

to dodge certain questions with trick and humours so as to

maintain the confidentiality of certain important issues like

the future plans of the company.

Hoardings: Vodafone uses hoardings also in order to

promote their company and the new services or tariffs plans

that they are coming up with. This strategy helps in making

their target audience aware of their upcoming plans.

Press Releases: Vodafone in USA has a separate press

office that issues all the Press Release. They press officer

makes the entire press release and then it’s confirmed by

the spokesperson of Vodafone USA and is then released.

There they believe Press Releases help in order to maintain

very good relations with the media and it also helps them to

be in the eye of the audience. It had also held and India

Analyst and Investor Day in London to talk about its

operations in India. It has issued a press release on it on 10 th

December, 2007.

Press Conference: Vodafone uses press conferences as a

very powerful tool in handling the media and seeking

consumer attention. They hold press conferences at the

launch of new services or products of any kind. They also

hold press conferences when they are getting into a

business deal for some company. They also hold press

conferences for announcing half-yearly results or financial

reports of the company.

Media Interviews: Vodafone undertakes media interviews

with proper planning. It is sometimes initiated by media

while most of the time it is by Vodafone. It is handled very

carefully specially during crisis or when a new service is

launched and is this used as a very good platform for

promotion, building image and even control crisis.

Social Activities: Vodafone undertakes social activities on

a huge scale. The Vodafone Group Foundation is committed

to providing assistance in the area of disaster response. Its

main aim is to develop partnerships which enhance long

term disaster response and preparedness activity, working

with organizations such as the United Nations Foundation,

Oxfam and MapAction. It also seeks wherever possible to

make a direct contribution in response to critical

humanitarian crises.

The Safaricom Foundation and The Vodafone Group

Foundation, together donate KShs 15,000,000 towards

humanitarian relief in Kenya.

Oxfam: VGF is a founding sponsor of the Oxfam 365

programme, an initiative aimed at funding a global rapid

response team of aid workers and maintaining the UK’s

biggest warehouse with a stockpile of emergency supplies.

UN Foundations: The UN Foundation-Vodafone Group

Foundation alliance strives to be the leading public-private

partnership using strategic technology programmes to

strengthen the UN’s humanitarian efforts worldwide.

MapAction: VGF is supporting MapAction’s humanitarian aid

effort in delivering situation maps updated hour-by-hour in

the field, that enable aid agencies to do their job of

delivering assistance.

Global Focus: World of Difference: World of Difference

(WoD) is an innovative charitable volunteering initiative

currently being delivered across the international network of

Vodafone Foundations.

WoD is based around the concept that individuals and

community organisations should identify what they feel

passionate about and then be provided with the resources to

make changes happen.

WoD creates the opportunity for individuals to work for one

year for a charitable partner organization, with salary and

related support provided. The winners are chosen on merit

through a public competition. To date, 52 individual winners

have participated or are currently participating.

Based on a model which was initially developed by the

Vodafone New Zealand Foundation in 2002, WoD

programmes have also been successfully launched by the

Vodafone Australia Foundation, the Vodafone Netherlands

Foundation and the Vodafone Ireland Foundation.

There are some slight variations in programme

implementation from country to country, but the basic

format of the WoD model – support for an individual to work

for one year in a cutting-edge charitable organization to

achieve pre-agreed outcomes – is the same in each

foundation.

Sponsorships: Vodafone sponsors many events. Some of

them are:

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: Vodafone had a contract

with the Mercedes. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has

extended Lewis Hamilton’s contract with the team for a

further five years. The new agreement, which starts for

2008, will run up to and including the 2012 season.

UEFA Champions League: Vodafone is in its second season

as Official Partner and Official Mobile network of the UEFA

Champions League, the world's largest annual football

competition.

Vodafone is delighted to be at the forefront of Europe’s

premier club competition. After the successes of last

season's UEFA Champions League sponsorship and the

agreements announced in April to sponsor the UEFA Cup

Final and UEFA Super Cup, Vodafone is looking forward to

strengthening its position as a brand passionate about the

beautiful game.

It has also come up with Vodafone Stadium of Fans wherein

fans can make teams and play for themselves.

England Cricket Team: Vodafone can’t get enough of the

England Cricket Team – 11 years on and their support is still

going strong as the principal partner of the Team. And it’s

not just about a logo on a shirt. This partnership gives

employees and lucky customers unbelievable access to get

up close and personal with the Team.

 As you can imagine, the life of a cricketer means the team

are on the road 10 out of 12 months of the year so a

BlackBerry is a must have. The Team use their handsets to

email friends & family, surf the net, listen to music and send

texts which keep them up to speed no matter where they

are in the world.

Internal PR: Vodafone operates a range of all-employee

share plans to encourage widespread employee share

ownership throughout the company. Vodafone won a Global

Equity Organization award for best share plan

communications in 2006 for the second year running.

They also operate a number of pension plans which vary

according to the conditions and practices in the countries

concerned. These are provided through defined benefit and

defined contribution arrangements. Defined benefit schemes

provide benefits based on the employees’ length of

pensionable service and their final pensionable salary or

other criteria. Defined contribution schemes offer employees

individual funds that are converted into benefits at the time

of retirement. They also involve them in the decisions of the

company. They conduct training programs also for the

benefit of the employees and for better experience. They

also promote leadership on a large scale. This is done in

order to maintain very good relations with the employees of

the organization.

PR strategies of Vodafone India:

Press Releases: Vodafone India doesn’t have a separate

press office to issue all the Press Releases. The PR Head

himself makes the entire press release and then it’s

confirmed by the spokesperson of Vodafone India i.e Navin

Chopra and is then released. There they believe Press

Releases help in order to maintain very good relations with

the media and it also helps them to be in the eye of the

audience.

Press Conferences: Vodafone uses press conferences as a

very powerful tool in handling the media and seeking

consumer attention. They hold press conferences at the

launch of new services or products of any kind. They also

use press conferences as a tool in order to control crisis.

Media Interviews: Vodafone undertakes media interviews

with proper planning. It is sometimes initiated by media

while most of the time it is by Vodafone. It is handled very

carefully specially during crisis or when a new service is

launched and is this used as a very good platform for

promotion, building image and even control crisis.

Hoardings and Advertisements: Vodafone uses

advertisements as a powerful tool. The hoardings are placed

in every corner of a city. It helps in seeking immediate

attention of the consumers.

Vodafone also uses advertisements. It has it corporate news

in the CAT 1 papers like Economic Times, Times of India,

Hindustan Times and many others. It also ahs its news in

CAT 2 papers including all the regional language papers. It

also advertises on television and radio.

They also have running ads on Star India about the news

updates or new services or new tariff plans. Vodafone has

entered into a Rebranding Campaign with Star India in order

to promote the Essar Brand.

Newsletter: Vodafone India issues house journals for its

employees named Baatchit. They believe this helps in

maintaining good relations with them. It is issued by the HR

Head.

Agency: The last PR strategy that they use is that they have

hired an agency that goes to the Vodafone store with

genuine problems. Then they report to the top management

of the company stating how the executives at the store

responded to their queries and how did they behave with

them. This helps the company in making the decisions

regarding those executives at the stores. This strategy has

helped them a lot in making Vodafone stores a better place

so that their customers get even better service.

Successful Strategies:

Vodafone has had many successful strategies. One of them

is the success of Vodafone in India. Vodafone for the Indian

masses was a completely new brand name. Therefore,

Vodafone had to see that the positive image of Vodafone is

built up in the minds of the people.

In order to promote the brand Vodafone in India, a Central

PR team was set up in India. They handled all the promotion

activities. They held many press conferences and issued

press releases. They also arranged for media interviews.

They released many positive articles about the Vodafone

company in all the CAT 1 papers.

Vodafone as been successful in retaining the position of

Hutchison Essar and infact make this telecom company

much more successful. Today Vodafone has 33 lakh

customers. It’s adding 2 lac customers every month.

Crisis:

It had faced a huge crisis during bomb blasts and floods.

There was no network at all. The cell sides were damaged in

water. They had the Motorola machine. It couldn’t take the

heavy load of calls. That is why it became slow. There were

no generators so the whole system stopped functioning

because the supply of electricity was cut off.

This was a very delicate situation. The company and the PR

dept dint lose their cool. They were calm and were cautious

and quick in taking steps. At that time they immediately

flashed news on all the news channels that people shouldn’t

take more time to talk as it was blocking the call lines. The

PR dept also informed all its employees not to use their

mobile phones so that that much load is reduced. They also

held an immediate press conference in order to explain what

was going on and why was there no network.

As a result of this crisis, they immediately took steps to

evaluate what went wrong. They immediately planted

generators everywhere. They started using fibre optic

cables. They immediately changed their Motorola machine

and replaced with one of a more superior quality. After this

incident they also started with a Disaster Management Cell

in the company.