Vodafone Idea (Vi) is reportedly raising its marketing budgets over the next two months as part of a dual strategy aimed at building awareness for its 5G launch by March and regaining subscribers, a senior official said. However, Vi will not be reviving iconic campaigns from its erstwhile brands, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, such as Vodafone's ZooZoos, the pug, or the "What an Idea sirji" campaign, according to chief marketing officer Avneet Khosla, ET reported.
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Building a Narrative Around 5G Launch
Khosla added that the recent Rs 24,000-crore equity infusion will enable the telco to shift the narrative on 5G and service quality, helping to curb subscriber losses and eventually regain users, the report said.
"I think it's an opportunity for us to build a narrative around the network, which we haven't been able to do for quite some time. The second big thing is going to be around the launch of 5G. These are two distinct narratives that will play out over the next couple of months," said Khosla, according to the report.
Network is Crucial in Telecom
"Network is hygiene in this business. Eventually you are buying a product which is the network. Everything else is secondary. If your network doesn't deliver, nothing else matters as far as the end consumer is concerned," he added.
Reportedly, Vi is entering new regions where its 2G subscribers had switched to competitors due to limited 4G coverage. "So there is going to be a win-back strategy, or like a Ghar Vapsi campaign." the report quoted the official as saying.
Regarding 5G, he mentioned that Vi aims to establish a unique identity as it enters the market later than its competitors, with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel having launched their 5G plans since late 2022.
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Perception is Very Hard to Change
According to the report When asked about the challenges Vi might face in achieving this turnaround amid intense competition, Khosla noted, "Perception is very hard to change. It takes the shortest period of time to destroy credibility and experience and it takes the longest period of time to build up perception. I think the good part is that we still enjoy a lot of love thanks to the legacy that we enjoy with our consumers."
Not Reviving Legacy Campaigns
However, Vodafone's ZooZoos, the pug, and "What an Idea sirji" campaigns won't be back. "They had their time under the sun. But, now we aren’t talking to two different sets of consumers. I can't alienate one set of consumers."
Khosla reportedly mentioned that Vi continued investing in value marketing, even during periods when network capital expenditure was lacking.
"We're not under-invested as far as marketing money is concerned. But, because there are new narratives to convey now, obviously we will scale up investments," he said.
According to the report, he explained that marketing spends in the telecom sector are insignificant when compared to capital expenditure or revenue. "Unlike FMCG where it's like 10 percent (of revenue) typically, the kind of ratios that we work with are different. For a Rs 45,000-crore business, it’s not even 1 percent. But it doesn't make a difference as long as the narrative connects to our consumers."
Khosla explained the rationale behind Vi's recent campaign, "Be someone’s Vi," in which the company shifted focus away from promoting network speeds.
"When I did not have 5G, I took a step back and said, let me talk about how connectivity can solve real-life problems. Loneliness is a real-life problem as far as consumers are concerned," the report cited CMO as saying.
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Media Planning Powered by AI
He added that much of Vi's media planning is now powered by AI, enabling the company to better understand users' choices and preferences.
"We are building a lot of probabilistic and diagnostic models. So, there's a lot of machine learning that we do in terms of how we tailor-make propositions for the end consumer. How do we hyper-personalise what we offer you," he said, according to the report.
