Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Vodafone
Table of Contents
1.1
Introduction to Vodafone...................................................................................3
1.2
1.3
Environmental Factors................................................................................7
Products by Vodafone
Monthly payments
Pay as you go
Top ups
Fixed line broadband (cordless, wired)
Blackberry business plan
3G data cards
applications)
(Helfert, 2004).
1.3.1 Political Factors
Besides UK, Vodafone is spreaded across half of the globe; North America, Europe, Asia.
Vodafone has gained massive revenue from the global market as well as main markets of Europe.
Hence, a globalised environment for Vodafone has shown a positive impact on political and
legislative factors (Cliffe, Simon J and Judy, 2005). .
Following figure shows the revenue in Million:
Fig. 1: The revenue for 2011/12 can be taken in Million (Vodafone annual report, 2013)
As of June 2013, Vodafone has over 19 million customers which generate 25% of share revenue
in the UK market.
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UK. Overall mobile services revenue for Europe in 2012 was 25% for data and 75% for voice
and SMS. This is expected to fluctuate in 2015 with an increase to 33% and 67% for data and
voice plus SMS respectively (Vodafone annual report, 2013).
Currently, there are serious economic concerns for Vodafone for obtaining licences for services.
High amount of price is paid for 3G licenses. However, Vodafone pays the amounts in order to
provide people with high-quality network coverage. Presently, smart phones are highly used so
Vodafone is constantly trying to upgrade the network which includes the theoretical speeds of
14.4 Mbps covering 98% of 3G network which is sufficient for customers to stream live videos.
For reducing the cost for geological sites Vodafone has deployed over 70% of new radio sites. In
return this levels down the expenditures for renting. Calling costs have been decreased due to the
increase in demand of the product. For 2014 fiscal year 12.8 billion profit has been expected
with the growth of Vodafone industry in the UK (Eaton and Duncan, 2002).
2015. 4G technology will be introduced in the UK on 29 th August, 2013 after a major investment
of 900 million for expanding the horizon of networks (Vodafone annual report, 2013).
Vodafone UK
United Kingdom
Orange
France
3
Hong Kong
8
Customers
Coverage
260 million
170 million
(Headquatered)
10 million
Handsets
(most
Samsung Galaxy
preferred)
Phone 4 8 GB
Value
4G services
Phone 4S 16 GB,
Galaxy S III 4G
Best cheapest deals,
Unreasonably expensive
passport package,
only deals
charges
data
To be launched on 29th
To stand in auction in
EE
September, 2013
per month
Although Vodafone covers the largest area for its network and has the highest number of
customers it needs to develop a cost leadership strategy as niche market is ignored and people
can turn to cost-efficient networks. These networks can also offer more services for low cost or
packages. By becoming the minimum cost producer Vodafone can compete and can earn higher
levels of profits. Best packages for mobiles are offered by Vodafone which comes along with the
cost of the mobile and free SMS or minutes. In addition mobile sets are according to the newest
technology in the industry which augments their position in terms of technology. After Orange it
is the second company to introduce 4G in its network which can also bump up its industrial
position.
P
R
L
R
O
A
I
D
C
M
U
E
O
C
T
T
I
O
N
S
Fig 2: Marketing mix of Vodafone (Data taken from Vodafone annual report, 2013)
Super stores have Vodafone promotions to the on-spot customers and also provide them with
discounts. Vodafones stores have well trained staff that acquire the need of the customer first
and provide them with products accordingly. Press releases including advertisements provide the
people with clear cut messages and promote good public relations. Vodafone Explore and
Vodafone Essentials are the magazines that provide the information about products in market
(Doyle and Phillip, 2006).
Advertisements on bus stops and billboards are eye catching and seek the attention of every
passing by person. Thus, promoting brand image in a positive way. For attracting every segment
of the market, Vodafone has David Becham as its brand ambassador. People all over the UK are
fanatic for football; hence, this has leaded the attraction of every part of the society. Most famous
slogan includes Send it like Becham. Hence, public relation of the product to the customers
needs maintenance. Ferrari and Manchester United club outstanding way of dealing public
relations. At the present time people are eager and keen to know about the whereabouts of sports
events. Therefore, smart phones can help them to stay up to date with news. Vodafone endow
customers with every kinds of news coverage, lending a hand in exceptional public relations
(Harker and Gary, 2009).
Vodafone has adopted sponsorships packages from Formula 1 and Ferrari which gives away
updates on their mobiles for Formula 1 season. People can know about positions of drivers, lap
speeds and drivers points table for the race. Hence, Vodafone Live! has proven its role in
providing images and graphics. In addition to this, special service is present that shows results
from the test track of Ferrari. Grand Prix Quiz Trivia Game can help the consumer to win prizes
from Ferrari after answering some questions (Vodafone annual report, 2013).
Chatting, sending and receiving voice messages, pictures and videos, obtaining data for
travelling and sports, changing of ringtones, chatting and billing services are the main features
followed by all Vodafone products. Hence, they are considered to be one of the paramount
products in the market as they take in all features.
SIM only and SIM cards deals offer both kinds of payment modes including Pay as you go and
monthly-based. Hence, prices are well maintained according to the need of the customers. On the
spot topping-up of phone can also be done by the customers. Phone packages and bundle offers
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are also available. However for maintain its position Vodafone must concentrate on pricing
policies (Vodafone annual report, 2013).
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aspects, including money and services, Vodafone should take steps to include special value added
services for youth (Harker and Gary, 2009).
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4.0 Conclusion
In comparison with power, energy, oil and gas industries telecommunication industry is the most
recent. In UK Vodafone has grown with blink of an eye and has expanded its horizons globally.
This rapid and vast growth is always challenging for the companies to uphold their positions.
Similar is the case with Vodafone as its needs to follow the ethics of marketing to deliver the
customers the right thing at the right time with the development of new products in cost efficient
manner. With highest number of customers and largest yearly revenue earning, following the
accurate actions could add up their performance in the competitive industry.
References
Anwar, S.T. (2003) CASES Vodafone and the wireless industry: a case in market expansion and
global strategy. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing 18.3. pp 270-288.
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Beddoes, Edward W., and Michael, J.M. (1994) "Radio telecommunication systems and
methods." European Patent No. EP 0597638.
Cliffe, Simon J., and Judy, M. (2005). Building contemporary brands: a sponsorship-based
strategy. Journal of Business Research 58.8 pp 1068-1077.
Competition Commission. "Vodafone." O2, Orange and T-Mobile: Reports on references under
section 13 (2003).
Daly, A. and Deirdre, M. (2005) Managing corporate rebranding. Irish Marketing Review 17 pp
30-36.
Doyle, P. (2000) Value-based marketing. Journal of Strategic Marketing 8.4 pp 299-311.
Doyle, P. and Phillip, S. (2006) Marketing management and strategy. United Kingdom Pearson
Education, 2006.
Eaton, J. and Duncan, B. (2002) Coaching for a change with Vodafone. Career Development
International 7.5 pp 284-287.
Foote, G. and David, W. G. Method and apparatus for controlling a display of data on a display
screen.U.S. Patent No. 6,904,570. 7 Jun. 2005.
Harker, M. and Gary M. (2009) Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education.
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Nikos, A. and Androulidakis I. (2004) M-business: The base for creating competitive advantage.
The case of vodafone-panafon. Wseas Transactions on Information Science and Applications 1.5
pp 1309-1313.
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