Strategic communications challenge?

According to Internet Governance Forum, India has the fourth largest number of Internet users in the
world, with 81 million users. The proportion of under 25 years age group net users account for 52% of
the total internet user base in Indians. Home emerges as the most preferred place of accessing
internet. Almost half of the regular internet users (46%) access the net from more than one place of
access , 41.2% prefer to access the net from home using* the internet for blogging, networking,
information search, downloading (music, games, entertainment), transacting (banking), for “fun”, want
speed & discerning on service.

Unlike competition which is focused on pricing and low entry cost, Airtel’s endeavor has been to
enhance the “Desirability of Broadband” in India. This has led Airtel to delivering better value in terms
of - service, higher speeds and a slew of value added offerings. Understanding and responding to the
psyche of a fast growing and dynamic broadband market thus, is an ongoing challenge.

*Source: Segmentation study

Objectives

Our objective was to build desirability for broadband and thereby increase consideration amongst
intenders – to create a category defining position for Airtel Broadband by showcasing broadband as
the antidote to the ‘strained at the leash’ feeling.

The always-on broadband has a transformational effect on the internet experience. The essence of
the ‘Broadband Effect’ is that when what consumers can do changes, what they will do changes
dramatically. A snappier browsing experience is just the beginning. Once the Internet is fast,
consumers find all kinds of uses for it - Greater freedom, more choice, a richer-more personalized
experience.

Across the world, Broadband has induced transformational changes in the way consumers engage
with brands, media or the whole field of entertainment. With millions adopting web2.0, blogging
becoming a common word, personalization, mashups, vblogs, tagging etc are changing the digital
landscape, the way we buy, the way we communicate and the way we live and the way organizations
do business. World trends show considerable similarity in User generated content, multipoint access
of information, communities, dialogue, and collaborative development.

The Big Idea

Idea: Life @ speed of thought.
Articulation: Impatience is a virtue

How did we arrive at the big idea?

Target Audience:
The Craving Joy riders –
16-24 year olds consuming technology as ‘oxygen’
Moving from experience to experience in the real world
Sampling all that life has to offer to them
Seeking to rebut any pattern formation in their lives
Living life on-the-fly

Product insight:
Hi speed broadband lets you experience the internet without any associated waiting times
(while downloading/streaming/surfing etc.)

Consumer insight:
The youth today are straining at the leash (want to do ‘more’ and do it ‘now’)
How did we bring the idea to life?
The new campaign established the human truth of impatience as a virtue & connect with the target
segment. Waiting for things to come their way is just not an option. They want to lead life @ speed of
thought. As opposed to the age old negative connotation of impatience, for this generation who lead
life in the fast lane, impatience is a virtue. Broadband’s high speed allows these impatient ones to
achieve a lot more in their lives, enjoy and discover the true power of internet. An engagement plan
for showcasing 16Mbps was thus evolved!

The campaign went live in 2 phases as follows –

th
1. Phase 1 was a digital launch on 06 April 2009 (launch of www.impatientones.com) which
utilized social ambassadors and offered engagement through created/user generated content,
contests etc.
o Lifecast Micro site: The micro site was built to “Lifecast” the lives of four young
achievers: Shiv Dravid Bhaskar (entrepreneur), Jishnu Dasgupta (musician), Sana
Siddiqui (Assistant Director & Script writer) and Sukhmani (Model) who have excelled
in their respective fields. These “Impatient ones”, who achieved more because of their
willingness to do more and get more out of life at a young age.

Following are Key the activities built around the micro site –
 The site opened on the TV advertising with interactivity built on the AD itself
 The chosen ambassadors posted content & discussed things which does
require high speed connection & thus made broadband more desirable e.g
Google latitude
 A visitor could make friends with them, follow their lives and even interact
with them through comments and blogging, twitter etc.
 Visitors could Enter a lead if they desired a Broadband connection
 Viral Videos: Quick & Short funny versions of popular films. Seeped in the
spirit of ‘Impatience’ these quick takes on movies had a very high
engagement level as once the movie ended, the viewer got a call on his
mobile with an interesting/wacky pre recorded message.( the mobile number
came as an input while ‘forwarding to a friend’ )
 Apart from the four impatient ones, the Micro site also had a section on
becoming the “fifth” impatient one –selection based on UGC (uploaded
“Impatient” videos)
.
o Contest: Promoted on and by MTV, objective of the contest was to search for the
next impatient one and he/she would be the next featured one on the micro site as
well as on MTV. People need to upload their versions of films in 30 seconds and also
write what their impatience attribute made them achieve.
o Mobile WAP: The WAP page would be branded as the impatient page and would be
pushed to the customers. The WAP page included the following –
 For the first time TVC was transcoded & showcase on WAP
 Goodies : Ringtones, wallpapers, screensavers
 Lead capture (By entering data or directly calling to the call centre)
 Forward to a friend – Virals
o Internet Advertising: Internet was our lead medium to direct traffic to Microsite and
for lead capturing. The internet advertisement is divided into the following parts –
 Launch: Big impact properties. Capture the home page of key portals
 Display : Reemphasis on the value proposition and directs traffic to the
microsite
 Search: Very focused lead management initiative. The keywords have been
chosen basis the genres where broadband is needed the most + competitive
framework
 Strategic presence: Present at locations where a surfer needs speed the
most. For e.g. Attaching files to mails, Upload / Download – Content
 Tie Up with Microsoft: Microsoft developed a speed test application that was
pushed in the social networking space and across. The application tested
and challenged a users friend list on Facebook thus making it engaging and
interesting.
 th
2. Phase 2 was a full blown national release followed on 13 April 2009 with presence on TV,
Internet, Mobile, on ground activations, ambient media and various below the line consumer
touch points to amplify the campaign idea.

Results
Immediate impact on business:
o Nett additions (recruitments) increase by 32% in May ’09 over April ‘09
o 1.2 million page views of www.impatientones.com in 45 days
Sustained impact on business:
o DSL Rental revenue increase of 22% in October ’09 over April ’09, indicating
increased acquisition on higher speed-higher rental plans.
o DSL ARPU increase of 3% in October ’09 over April ‘09
o Subscriber base increase of 10% in October ’09 over April ‘09

Source: Bharti Airtel Ltd

Creative elements

TVC
Posters
Standee/dangler/flier/leaflet/post-it
CASESTUDI
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