Marketing Plan of Bang La Link 1

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American International University- Bangladesh

(AIUB)

Marketing Plan of Banglalink

A Term Paper submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the course Marketing

Management for the Degree in Bachelor of Business Administration

Submitted to,

Faculty: Hamidul Islam

Course name: Marketing Management

Department name: School Of Business (BBA)Semester: Summer 2009

Section: I

Submitted by,

Neel, Samiul Gani 07-09328-3

Ahmed, Iftekhar Nayeem 07-08659-2

Rafiq Istiaq Bin 08-10849-2

Rabbe, Abdul Ahad 07-08293-1


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Letter of Transmittal

1st August, 2009

Hamidul Islam

Course Instructor

Marketing Management

School of Business

American International University - Bangladesh

Dear Sir,

With immense and pronounced Marketing Plan of Banglalink which is a partial

fulfillment of the requirement of the final-term examination in Marketing

Management.

This report has enabled us to get an insight about the Marketing Plan of

Banglalink. We are very grateful to you for giving us this wonderful opportunity. I

hope that readers would come to know all the main and crucial reasons about the

Marketing Plan of Banglalink.

Thanking You,

Sincerely Yours,

Neel Samiul Gani.

(Group Leader)


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Acknowledgement

First we would like to thank our Almighty Allah Rabbul Alamin that his blessings

were always with me so that we are able to do complete this work.

We owe debt of gratitude to all those who helped us with this study. First we must

thank the almighty the beneficent, the merciful. We thank our course teacher

Hamidul Islam who provided support to construct the conceptual frame work of the

study.

We would like to thank all the member of Prothom Alo and Daily star for giving us

some important datas based on tele - communication sector of Bangladesh.

We also would like to thank those website developers who develop those sites.

Our class mates were really frank & cooperative to share their ideas as well as write

the report about the Marketing Plan of Banglalink.


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Table of ContentsPage

Introduction.... 7

1.1 Rationale of the Study

1.2 Objectives

1.3 Methodology

1.4 Limitations

Company Overview... 9

Marketing Plan.. 15

1.1 Situation Analysis 151.2 Product. 19

1.3 Marketing Strategy.......... 24

1.4 Distribution Network... 30

Recommendations & Conclusion..... 34

Bibliography... 35


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INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the Study

Banglalink is one of the leading cellular companies in Bangladesh. It starts itsoperation since 2000. Within one year of launching it has become one of the leadingcellular companies by its effective marketing mix. Effective segmentation and targetmarket strategy it easily goes to the knock of the people by introducing variouspackage for the customers. The company sets the price effectively. As a result

people from various societies can get the facilities of cellular company. For thepromotional sector Banglalink presents itself as an icon to the other companies.Within a very short time it spreads its network coverage and maintains an indirectdistribution channel to reach the consumers.

It is very important to evaluate the marketing mix of Banglalink.

1.2 Objectives

The objectives of this paper are as follows:

Provide an overview of the Banglalink.

To evaluate the marketing plan of the Banglalink.

To identify the factors influencing on the marketing plan of thecompany.

To find out the strategies need to implement for achieving its long term goal.


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1.3 Methodology

The study covers the operation of Banglalink. Moreover, history of Banglalink, its

prospects in Bangladesh, its operational issues and problems, mission, vision andobjectives of the company are also covered. Details of functional activities ofBanglalink are provided to get an understanding of the organizational structure andactivities of FMCG Company.

For this study information is collected from both primary and secondary sources.Investor relations section of the Website www.banglalinkgsm.com is an immensesource of information about Banglalink.

1.4 Limitations

This paper suffered from a number of limitations. Some are stated below:

As a novice it was difficult for us to analyze the total marketing plan.

In case of Trend and Time series analysis interpretation based on five yearsdata of the companys early stage of operation may not reflects true picture of thefuture as very low values of the early years of a brand new organization.

As a student of BBA, due to time constraint, comprehensive study based oninformation collected from primary source is not possible by us. So, weinterview some of the marketing executives to get an idea of operations andissues in the company.


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COMPANY OVERVIEW

What Is Banglalink

Banglalink is new brand name of Sheba World (019), which has been providingGlobal Service of Mobile (GSM) in the country since 1998. Orascom Telecombought 100% share of Sheba Telecom and gave its new name as Banglalink aimingto provide quality service in Bangladesh.

Behind Banglalink

ORASCOM TELECOM is one of the most dynamic telecommunicationspowerhouses in the world. Orascom is based in Egypt and has operations in 11countries worldwide. Established in 1998, it is today the largest capitalized company

on the Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchanges with over 11 million subscribersworldwide. It has grown to be one of the largest and most diversified GSM networkoperators in the Middle East, Africa and Asia

Making a Difference

When Banglalink entered the Bangladesh telecom industry in February 2005, thescenario changed overnight with mobile telephony becoming an extremely usefuland affordable communication tool for people across all segments.

Within one year of operation, Banglalink became the fastest growing mobile operator

of the country with a growth rate of 257%. This milestone was achieved withinnovative and attractive products and services targeting the different marketsegments; aggressive improvement of network quality and dedicated customer care;and effective communication that emotionally connected customers with Banglalink.

Banglalink entered the market with a promise of making mobile phone affordable forpeople. This promise was kept and Banglalink was the first operator to introduce aflat rate for all calls (inside own network and to other operators) for the convenienceand ease of customers.

Banglalink focused heavily on enhancing service and quality during 2006. These

enhancements were done in terms of network quality and customer service. Therewas aggressive improvement of indoor coverage, and wherever necessary,especially in-building solutions were installed in case of enterprise customers andcorporate clients. To provide better customer service, a new, expanded, state of theart call center has also been established. At the end of the 2006, there have been asix customer care centers and 63 franchise centers across the country attendingvarious customers with different queries.


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Banglalink continues to play an active role in the area of corporate socialresponsibility. Banglalink has given Dhaka International Airport - the gateway ofBangladesh a completely new look. Provision of high quality passenger trolleys,phone booths, emergency charging station and beautification of the premises is anexemplary initiative which no other multinational has taken. Banglalink also

contributed to an important tiger conservation project in the Sundarbans, andcontinues to support the Cox's bazaar beach cleaning program.

Mission

To deliver innovative, customer focused products and to be the benchmark forcustomer service excellence.

Vision

To be the best quality Service Provider in the country.

Management Team


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Organizational Structure

MD & CEO Rashid Khan

Director- Admin Altaf Faquih

CFO Ezzeldin Heikal

CTO Mohamed Ghidan

Director- Marketing Omer Rashid

Director-Sales Suhail Jan

Director- CCD Muhammad Arshad

Head of HR Tarek Beram

Director IT Waleed El-Sonbaty

ADVISOR

MD & CEO
http://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_ceo.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_altaf_faquih.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_Ezzeldin_M._Heikal.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_Mohamed_Ghidan.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_omer_rashid.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/management_body.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_muhammad_arshad.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_tarek_beram.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_waleed_el_sonbaty.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_ceo.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_altaf_faquih.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_Ezzeldin_M._Heikal.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_Mohamed_Ghidan.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_omer_rashid.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/management_body.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_muhammad_arshad.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_tarek_beram.phphttp://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/about_waleed_el_sonbaty.php


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Functional Department

Banglalink has the following functional departments:

Sales & Marketing:

The Sales& Marketing department functions in different categories such asResearch & Product Development, Marketing Communications, Corporate & DirectSales, Channel Management, FWT & Backbone Solutions, Logistics & TradeSupport, International Roaming etc.

Sales and marketing is responsible for setting up of the sales channels andmechanisms by which the services packages are actually sold to the customers.This department also deals with corporate sales. This department however deals

mainly with sales to corporate customers and maintenance of relations with bothcurrent clients as well as counting out potential new corporate clients, whereas theafter sales service and other issues are dealt with by the customer servicesoperations section of the company. This department also has the very important jobof setting up marketing channels by which packages are distributed among clientsand feedback is obtained from customers. This department is responsible for theselection of dealers and motivating them to promote Banglalink packages to thecustomers in their respective areas. Brand Marketing and Research & ProductDevelopment id responsible for all the promotional activities of Banglalink products,developing brand image and also designing new packages.

Customer Care:

Customer Care Department is responsible for coordinating all sorts of customersupport activities. Its primary task is to ensure that challenging goals are set for eachsub-department according to the organizational aims and each employee

Chief of

corporate

Affairs &

Strategic

Planning

Chief

Financial

Officer

Chief

Market

ing

Officer

Head of

Custom

er Care

Dept.

Head of

Human

Resour

ces

Head of

Engine

ering

Chief

Technic

al

Officer

Head of

Billing

& IT


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understands his or her role in supporting the customer. CCD has a responsibility toensure smooth coordination between the activation, servicing and bill collectionactivities. CCD operated in different sections such as front office, activation andVerification, collection and retention, call center etc.

Call Center is a 24hours service provided to the customers where a customer caneasily call to the hunting numbers and ask for any sort of queries & clarification. CallCenter Agents try to solve the customers problem instantly if possible or guide themaccordingly.

Another functional area under the Customer Care Department is Workshop wherefaulty handsets are repaired.

Finance:

This department is responsible for co ordination of various finance and Fundmanagement activities of Banglalink. This Includes LC and purchase fundmanagement payment of deposit paid by customers, cash flow management, andinsurance cost management, forecasting and budgeting, negotiating with Banks etc.Different sections under this department are Commercial, Fund Management, andBudgeting.

This department also looks after the functioning of Central Stores from where mobilesets, all other accessories and all sorts of stationeries are issued.

Corporate Affairs & Strategic Planning:

This department has been introduces recently to facilitate the following activities:

Secretarial Activities ensure proper implementation of relevant laws ofcompany acts and ensures proper reporting to various regulatory bodies.

Tax & Vat Managing and controlling corporate tax and Vat related issues andco-ordinate with the tax regulatory boards.

Business activates regularly meets regulatory bodies and differentstakeholders to ensure smooth running of operational activities of thecompany.


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Revenue Assurance ensures revenue of the company and develops strategyto increase revenue as well as protection of revenue leakage.

Human Resources:

Human Resources Department functions in he following distinct sections:

Banglalink believes that their teamwork is our greatest asset. Useful contributionsmade by each individual bring us that much closer to our goals. The Banglalinkfamily is made up of a group of passionate individuals, uniquely qualified fromdiverse disciplines but working towards our vision.

Banglalink ensures for the Tigers/Tigress:

A friendly, professional and mutually supportive environment that encouragesour people to develop their potentials to an optimal level.

A true quality of professionalism that can be found in all world-classmultinational companies.

Team oriented professionals, who contribute to the greater whole of theorganization through their participation in decision making situations.

A system which recognizes and rewards groups as well as individuals for theirefforts and contributions to the company.

Billing & IT:

Billing activities include bill generation, dispatch of bills and risk management. Thebill generation area is responsible for the actual process of preparing the bills for thecustomers and sending those bills at the necessary time to allow for delivery timeand payment by customers. Where as Risk Management area responsibilities

include checking usage against credit limit.

IT section provides all sorts of systems or technical support i.e. troubleshooting,installation of computers, maintaining the computerized attendance system etc


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MARKETING PLAN

1.1 Situation Analysis:

Banglalink have started its first operation in Bangladesh in 2005. The products havebeen well received and the marketing is the key to the development of its brandimage as well as the growth of the customer base. Banglalink now offering differentpackages for the customers but at the begging year they offered packages as wellas different mobile sets for the customer.

Market Summary

Banglalink posses good information about the market, knows a great deal about thecommon attributes of the most valued customer. Before launching its experiencedand prompt sell and marketing force observed the market carefully and betterunderstood who is served, what is their specific needs and the way to communicatewith the customers need and demand.

Market Needs

Banglalink is providing a wide range of services for its valued customers. The

company seeks following benefits that are important for its customers:

Quality Service: Banglalink is providing quality service to the employers. Thecustomers dont like the network problem and slow networking system. Banglalinkrecruits high professional employees and experts to make the network available forthe customers. It is the company which expands its network all over the countrywithin the shortest period of time after starting its operation. Banglalink is committedto its customer about the quality service.

Customer Service: Banglalink has both online and physical customer care servicefor its customers. The valued customer can solve the problems over mobile phone

dialing 121. It has also customer care service all over the country mainly in the cityareas. But the centers are too limited to meet the huge demand. Now at thisBanglalink is expanding its customer care centers and upgrading its quality.Banglalink is committed to meet the customer demand and problem as soon aspossible.


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Service at Low Price: Before Banglalink starts its operation the tariff was higherthan any other period. At that time the three mobile companies charged Tk. 6 for perminute outgoing calls and Tk.2 for per sms. But the company was committed toprovide quality service at a lowest price. As a result Banglalink is the fastest growingtelecom company in Bangladesh. This is because of providing quality service at a

lowest price.

Market Growth

Though the call rate tariff is reducing due to the heavy competition in the telecommarket, the market is widening day by day as the number of mobile users areincreasing and there is a lot of scope to develop this sector. Banglalink is the fastestgrowing telecom sector in Banglalink. Sheba Phone became Banglalink in 2005when ORASCOM graphed the company. At the time launching as the name ofBanglalink there was only a few thousand customers but within the three years itsnumber of customers has raised more than 4 million. Banglalink is the second

largest telecom company operating in Bangladesh.

Product Life Cycle

The process of developing and maintaining a fit between an organizations goals andthe dynamic environment is the strategic planning.

Marketing strategy is the means by which a marketing goal is to be achieved underthe observation of the position of the product.

Today understanding customer is crucial, but it is not enough. Under the marketing

concept, companies gain competitive advantage by satisfying target consumerneeds better than competitors do. Thus, marketing strategies must consider not onlythe needs of target consumers, but also the strategies of competitors.

To prepare a marketing strategy it is necessary to know the position of the product inits Product Life Cycle.

PLC

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Intro

duction

Grow

thM

aturity

Decline

SALE

S

Sales


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Comparing the external environment, Banglalinks product is placed at the growthstage of its life cycle. Knowing this position will help to determine which strategy is toapply.

Market share of Banglalink is growing at a positive rate in total market. That means

the overall growth rate compare to over all market, Banglalink is in the GrowthStage. From the information provided that Banglalink is in DOG situation,Companys objective must be profitable growth. Since marketing has the mainresponsibility to achieve profit and lay down strategies for capturing them,BANGLALINK has followed the same technique in the operations. The companyposition dictates the companys growth strategies.

SWOT Analysis

Strength

- Company Image

- Existing Channel

- Well Management Capability

- Expert Marketing People

- Skilled Worker

- Capability To Finance

Weakness

- Lack Of Experience

- Short Of Sales People

Opportunity

- New Products Idea

- Large Market

- Availability Of Raw Materials

- Bankable Project

- Low Price Of Raw Materials

Threats

- Political Unrest

- Extortion & Rising Crimes

- New Competitors


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Competitors

Banglalink made a revelation in the telecommunication sector. City Cell was the firstto start telecommunication business in Bangladesh in 1989. GP and Aktel started

their business from 1997 & 1998. The service charge was great but the facilitieswere few. Banglalink made the history by inviting variety of services at a verycheaper rate.

Grameen Phone

Warid Telecom

Tele Talk

City Cell

Aktel

Grameen Phone is the leader of the mobile market but Banglalink is the secondbiggest company in Bangladesh. Banglalink is the main competitor in the mobilemarket.

The market research also concludes that although Banglalink is not the marketleader in telecommunication market, they are the Market Challenger, as thefollowing figure shows the market share of Banglalink in the telecommunicationmarket.

The firms that are not in the top most position but quite large, this runner up firmscan challenge the leader and other competitors in an aggressive bid for more market

COMPETITION SCENERIO OF TELCO

55%

27%

10%

6% 3% GRAMEENPHONEBANGLALINK

AKTELl

CITYCELL

TELETALK&WARID


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share, and it is challenging the market. A market challenger first must define whichcompetitors to challenge and its strategic objective. A challenger can attack themarket leader, a high-risk but potentially high-gain strategy that makes good sense ifthe leader is not serving the market well. To succeed with such an attack, acompany must have some sustainable competitive advantage over the leadera

cost advantage leading to lower prices or the ability to provide better value at apremium price. It could include a strategy of market challenger.

Banglalinks competitor to challenge the market is GRAMEEN PHONE (GP) andtheir strategic objective is To receive an economic return on its investment.

1.2 Product:

Package

Banglalink has got different type of customer oriented packages for the customers.

Banglalink offers mainly two types of packages. They are:

Pre paid Packages

Post paid Packages

Pre Paid Packages

Prepaid is a system where you pay for your phone calls in advance. Prepaid givesyou the freedom to use your mobile within your budget. It is an excellent way tospeak your language.

The products, Banglalink Prepaid has network mobility feature which helps asubscriber to move around where Banglalink has its coverage.

Key Features of Banglalink Pre Paid is:

No monthly subscription fee.

One country one rate.


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30 days extra incoming facility once the validity is over and then 90 daysgrace period on scratch card and e-fill.

Banglalink is offering its customers the following prepaid products to suit theirconnectivity needs:

Pre Paid M2M

Connection price Tk.150 with Tk.120 free talk time.

Mobile-to-Mobile incoming and outgoing.

No monthly fixed charges.

Mobile-to-Mobile incoming free.

Pre Paid Standard

Connection price Tk.199 with Tk.120 free talk time.

Mobile-to-Mobile, T&T and ISD facilities.

No monthly fixed charges.

BTTB incoming free.

There are three prepaid packages for the customers.

"Banglalink Desh" tariff plan

Outgoing

9am to 5pm*

Banglalink to Banglalink Tk.1.15/min

Banglalink to Others Tk.1.15/min

Peak (9 am to 12 am)

Banglalink to Banglalink Tk.1.75/min

Banglalink to Others Tk.1.75/minOff Peak (12 am to 9 am)

Banglalink to Banglalink 29 paisa/min

Banglalink to other mobiles 99 paisa/min

FRIENDS & FAMILY (3 Numbers)

Banglalink to BanglalinkTk.0.59/min

Banglalink to any mobile Tk.0.79/min

SMS

Banglalink to Banglalink Tk.0.75/SMS

Banglalink to Others Tk.0.75/SMS

Peak (0900hrs-2400hrs) Off peak (2400hrs-0900hrs)

On net 0.99 0.29

Off net 2.00 0.99

3 on net FnF rate 0.50 0.29

SMS rate (0n net) 0.25

SMS rate (off net) 0.50

Pulse 30 sec

1. Banglalink Desh

2. Banglalink Desh Rang


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1. 1 second pulse from 2nd pulse which allows you to call with 1 second pulsefacility and pay as much as you talk.

2. 4 FnF to any Banglalink number: 79 paisa/min.3. Late night tariff for calls to any Banglalink number from 12 am - 9am:Tk.0.29/min

4. To any Banglalink number from 9am - 11pm: Tk.1.79/min.

5. SMS to Banglalink numbers at 49 paisa/sms and to other mobile: Tk.1.00/sms.6. To other operators from 7am - 11pm Tk.2.00/min and from 11pm - 7am:89paisa/min.

Post Paid Packages

Enterprise Personal Packages Banglalink constantly strives to provide you the best service at the most affordableprice. You can now choose the appropriate package based on your need and usagepattern.

Change Of Package Name: All previous Banglalink postpaid customers are nowpersonal package 1 customers. Similarly, all Banglalink postpaid 600 and 1200

customers are now personal package 2 customers and Banglalink call & controlcustomers are now personal call & control customers.

3. Ladies First


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Call Charges:

personal

package 1

personal

package 2

personal call &

control

Monthly line rent/Minimum monthly

bill*

100 1,000* 50

Outgoing call (BL-BL)

00:00 to 9:00 hrs**

08:00 to 23:00 hrs

23:00 to 08:00 hrs

0.29/min

1.50/min

1.50/min

0.29/min

1.40/min

1.40/min

0.29/min

1.60/min

1.00/min

Outgoing call (BL-others)

08:00 to 23:00 hrs

23:00 to 08:00 hrs

1.85/min

1.50/min

1.40/min

1.40/min

1.95/min

1.50/min

Number of FnF 4 5 3

FnF: 24 hrs

BL to BLBL to other mobiles

00:00 to 9:00 hrs BL to BL**

0.59/min0.79/min

0.29/min

0.59/min0.79/min

0.29/min

0.59/min0.79/min

0.29/min

Pulse

BL to BL

BL to others

1 second

30/30/15

1 second

1 second

1 second

30/15/15

SMS

BL to BLBL to others

BL to international

0.75/SMS1.00/SMS

1.62/SMS

0.75/SMS1.00/SMS

1.62/SMS

0.75/SMS1.00/SMS

2.00/SMS

You can enjoy the discount every month as mentioned in the following table:

Length of stay with Banglalink

Monthly outgoing voice calls(Excluding T&T charge, Roaming & VAT)

Tk.401-1500 Tk.1501-3000 Tk.3001+

More than 2 years 10% 12% 15%

More than 1 year,

Less than 2 years 8% 10% 12%

Less than 1 year 7% 8% 10%


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1.3 Marketing Strategy

Mission

To deliver innovative, customer focused products and to be the benchmark forcustomer service excellence.

Banglalink mission is to provide clear and smooth telecommunication to thecustomers and make the Banglalink services available to all part of Bangladesh.

Marketing Objective

Maintain strong and positive growth.

Achieve a steady increase in market penetration.

Hold a strong market position within few years.

Target Market

Organization that sells to consumer and business markets cannot appeal to allbuyers in those markets or at least not to all buyers in the same way. Buyers are too

numerous, too widely scattered, and too varied in their needs and buying practices.

Incase of Banglalink, from teenager to any age group; from lower-middle class toupper-upper; from Teknuff to Tetulia regardless to race, religion, gender literacylevel, life style or personality any and every single person who is in need of atelephone line backed with affordability spend the expense of possessing a mobilephone is their target market.

This indicates that in choosing market segment, segmental marketing is appropriatefor them. That means the company should recognize that buyers differ in theirneeds, perceptions, and buying behavior.

For this Banglalink have made a various type of customization in phone lines andphone set along with different prices are charged against each segment of the targetmarket. Below the various types of mobile phone sets, lines, prices and the billingsystem offered by Banglalink are discussed related to geographic, demographic, andpsycho-graphic segmentations.


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Market Segmentation

Banglalink has the following segmentation bases:

If we look at to the segments from the geographic angle we find that it started its

service from the capital of Bangladesh Dhaka city. Then it extended its coveragearea into Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna, and gradually the 61districts of the country.Although Banglalink is covering most of the part of the area, still they left 3 moredistricts. There are government restrictions for the network coverage of those hilltraces areas

22-30 4,500-10,000 Desh & Ladies First

30-35 10,000-25,000 Desh & Enterprise

35 & above 25,000 & above Enterprise

As to segment the cellular phone consumers psychographic segmentation plays themost important role. Psychographics segmentation divides consumers into differentsegments based on social class, life style or personality. It is very important todesign the products and services of mobile company according to the consumerspsychographic factors

Figure # 4: Over All Segmentation

Over All Segmentation

Middle income

group

31%

Service holders

17%

Young People

44%

Others4%

House Wives4%


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Banglalinks network is divided into six divided into six zones according to the

division orders: Dhaka Zone, Chittagong Zone, Khulna Zone, Sylhet Zone, BarisalZone, and Rajshahi Zone.

As the present time Banglalinks has 135 base stations all over the country and itcovers 61 district towns including all six divisional headquarters. The work relating tocore network up gradation was completed. The capacity of two switches in Dhakaand Chittagong was further enhanced. The switch and base station controllerprocessor was upgraded. The microwave link between Khulna and Chittagong overthe coastal areas was also completed in a fastest way, within 1 year. Thismicrowave link formed a loop in the Banglalinks network, enabling Banglalink toprovide a more secured service to its valued subscribers. Since launching its

services, Banglalinks continued to rapidly expand its network well beyond meetingthe license obligations. The Banglalinks service was launching in Chittagong in2005, Khulna Sylhet and Barisal in 2005. in the northern region if the country , whichhas been traditionally neglected in terms of telecommunications development,Rajshahi city, Bogra, Nator, and Noagaon have also been connected withBanglalinks network. It sets a milestone in setting up its network. After one and halfyear of launching as Banglalink, it has widen its network coverage. This is again agreat success in providing a smooth networking system over a very short period oftime.

But now at this time Banglalink is emphasizing on demographic segmentation.

Demographic Market Segmentation

After the company has decided which market segment to enter with which product, itmust decide what positions it want to occupy a clear distinctive and desirable placerelative to competing products in the mind of target customers. The companys entiremarketing program should support the chosen positioning strategy.

Since if a product is perceived to be exactly like another product on the market,consumers would have no reason to buy it, Banglalink brings special features on theproduct as well as significant various services that positioned the products in the

target segments. Products can be positioned with some positioning strategy. We findthat Banglalink has taken has taken multi-various strategy to position its variousproduct in the market.

It designed its products according to the usage occasion. Consumers can useBanglalink in specific occasions according to their need such as the internationalroaming gives the consumers an opportunity to use their cellular phone in 172


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abroad countries. The products of Banglalink are available for certain classes ofusers.

Marketing Mix

Pricing Strategy

There are five heavy weight companies in the market and as a result Banglalink hasto be very careful in setting the price of the packages.

Strategy For The New Packages

We know there are two strategies to set price. Market skimming that is setting priceat the highest level that accompany can set. And the penetration pricing that issetting the lowest price for the new product.

Banglalink follows the penetration strategy to set the price. Banglalink offers thelowest price in the market. Because of the market is very competitive and thecompany has to hold the market share. On the other hand the consumers want thecheaper rate. As a result the company selects the lowest price and become

successful in this regard. In 2002 it was a new cellular company and within a quicktime it becomes the second largest company because this is the cheapest amongthe six.

Operators

Rate

Warid CityCell Aktel BanglaLink Grameen

Phone

TeleTalk

Package

Rate

Tk.150 Tk.1395 Tk240 Tk.150 Tk240 Tk.260

This price is for M2M connection.


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(Data of the month September 2007)

Special Strategy For Pricing

Flexible Pricing:

Banglalink offers flexible pricing for its different packages. It has segmented itsmarket according to its customer income level and sets the price according to thetarget market. As ladies first is targeted for the women its price is 150 taka and asthe Enterprise is for the business men and its price rate is Tk.1000.

Odd Pricing:

Banglalink follows odd pricing for the package. Instead of even pricing it maintainsodd pricing like instead of Tk.200 it sets Tk.150.

Discount

Setting the price for the call charge and package price it always offer discounts.Some discounts are:

20% out going call free on the basis of the total incoming call.

Tk.120 free for the every new connection.

Offer special discount for the ladies first users at selected outlets.

Tk.100 FREE talk-time for new Enterprise connections.

All incoming calls including T&T are absolutely FREE.

Up to 15% monthly loyalty discount on airtime.


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Free talk to any Banglalink on every Friday and Saturday from 1 am to 7 ambut sorry to say this offer is not applicable for the recent time.

Unlimited lifetime for any amount of recharge. (At least Tk.10).

Factors affecting Price determination

Estimated Demand:

Banglalink always estimate the demand of the consumers and sets price accordingto meet the demand. When new products come into the Market people are often lesslikely to buy the product.

Competitive Reaction:

The market is very competitive in deed and as a new company it has to competewith the five potential companies. Setting the price Banglalink is always sincereabout the competitors action. When Grameen Phone offered the lowest out goingcall rate it also reduced the call rates.

Cost:

Total cost is a major factor in selecting the price of the package. Different types of

cost like fixed costs, variable costs, total cost is a primary factor that influence theprice of each product and keeping touch with these factors and ways Banglalinkalways use penetrating strategy for its call charge. It can be better observed from thefollowing chart

Call Rate Of Banglalink Relative To Other Operators

Operators

Rate

Warid Aktel BanglaLink Grameen

Phone

TeleTalk

Package Rate Tk.1.20 Tk.1.19 Tk.1.15 Tk.1.20 Tk.1.20

Off-Pick

Hour(1st

Tk.1.00 Tk0.30 Tk.0.29 Tk.0.60 Tk.0.30


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Minute)

1.4 Distribution Network:

Banglalink doesnt sell its packages directly to its customer. Rather it maintains anindirect distribution channel for the customer. It appoints dealer for sell. Through thedealers the packages are distributed to the customers. Consumers can get thepackage through them. Banglalink always wants to sell its products as many as theycan. As a result they try to make the packages available as many outlets andretailers as possible. The distribution network of Banglalink is as follows:

Graph:

Network Coverage

Dealers(through out

the country)

Retailers

Unlimited Consumers

Banglalink


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Advertising & Promotion

Banglalink basically undertakes advertisement on basis of their product. They usemainly non personal advertisement communication like:

1. Print Media (Newspaper, Magazine, etc)

2. Broad Cast Media (TV Media, FM radios)

3. Online Media (Internet)

4. Display Media (Sign Board, Bill Board, etc)

Their advertising strategy is like Brand Promotion, Sales Promotion, Good WillBuilding, Network Extension Notice, Inform Value Added Service etc.

They also use personal or direct marketing only for their corporate clients usage;this will help them to get discounts in different shops and stores. On the occasion ofdifferent religious and cultural festivals, Banglalink can provide greetings throughleaflets, festoons, banners and so on as a public relation to their existing andpotential customers.

Another kind of promotion they can initiate to make their existing customers loyalwho make a remarkable level of revenue, Banglalink can provide offerings, such asDiscount Card. They will provide subscribers discount cards, as a reward of theirsubstantial use of the service.

Banglalink also became a leader in terms of its advertising quality and setting veryhigh standards for competition and others. The corporate TV commercial of "DinBodol" based on the theme "Making a Difference in People's Lives", touchedeveryone through out the country and was adjudged the best TVC of the yearaccording to the leading dailies of the country like Prothom Alo and New Age. ThisTV Commercial has become a matter of national pride for Bangladesh as it has beennominated for the best TV Advertisement of the year with 4 other internationaltelevision commercials at the GSMA Award 2007. GSMA Award is considered to bethe Oscar of mobile industry.


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Control:

The purpose of Banglalink marketing plan is to control:

Revenue: Monthly And Annual

Expenses: Monthly And Annual

Customer Satisfaction

New Product Development

Implementation:

The following milestones identify the key marketing programs as is important toaccomplish and implement by Banglalink marketing department.


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Recommendations & Conclusion

Banglalink as a novice cellular company has improved its condition within a veryshort time. It was done because of the right decision and proper marketing policy ofthe company. The marketing plan of the company has proven right for theorganization because its spreading its business gradually.

But still it is not the biggest cellular company in the country. GP is the leader in themarket and Banglalink has got lot of aspect to improve the situation. TO be themarket leader Banglalink must be very careful in the field of marketing plan and thesuccess of the company is a matter of subject that how they are implementing the

plan.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Websites:

o http://wikipedia.search.com.bd/HT/D_0109.htm

o http://wikipedia.search.com.bd/HT/D_0145.htm

o http://www.worldinfo.com/economics/01.php

o http:// www.banglalinkgsm.com

Books:

o Marketing Management (12th Edition) - Philip Kotler & Keller

o Marketing (13th Edition) - Etzel, Walker & Stanton

o Fundamental Of Marketing (13th Edition) - Philip Kotler

Newspapers:

o The Daily Star.

o The Independent.

o Daily Prothom Alo.
http://wikipedia.search.com.bd/HT/D_0109.htmhttp://wikipedia.search.com.bd/HT/D_0145.htmhttp://www.worldinfo.com/economics/01.phphttp://wikipedia.search.com.bd/HT/D_0109.htmhttp://wikipedia.search.com.bd/HT/D_0145.htmhttp://www.worldinfo.com/economics/01.php

Documents

Marketing Plan of Bang La Link 1