MARKETING STRATEGIES OF UFONE

► MARKET SEGMENTATION

Cellular service market is a diverse set of people. Ufone as well as other cellular service companies segment their market on four bases: - economy, age, gender & occupation.

I. ECONOMY:           Upper class, Middle class, socio-economic class, lower class

II. AGE:                      Teenagers, youngsters, middle age, aged people

III. GENDER:           Male & Female

IV. OCCUPATION:  Corporate class, Business class, working class etc

TARGET MARKETS

Cellular phones are the technology of new era, the 21st century. These cellular phones are the main focus of our youngsters. All the cellular companies are targeting The Youth one way or other. Ufone is no longer a follower in this race. Its main focus is “THE YOUTH” of Pakistan which is its Target Market.

TARGET MARKETING STRATEGY

Ufone has always been targeting Youth Market by using young brand endorsers or ambassadors. It always brings such packages and offers that precisely meet the needs of our young people. No doubt it has also launched packages, brands and offers for working people, business class, ladies and aged ones. Ufone seeks to target masses in the long run.

POSITIONING

Positioning is the process of creating an image of company’s brand in the mind of market. Companies position themselves emotionally, functionally or on the basis of brand quality. Ufone is still a market challenger in comparison to market leader MOBILINK. It is still to reach to the top most position of cellular companies. So Ufone positions itself on the basis of its services.

Ufone’s former Positioning Statement:

“Everybody Loves to Ufone Prepay “

Ufone’s new Positioning Statement:

“Ufone tum hi toh ho.

Or

“It’s All About U”

Ufone’s positioning strategy:

Ufone changed the image of mobile phones from a luxury only affordable by the elite, to a necessity affordable by the common man. Since its inception, Ufone has positioned its brand for “MASSES” on the basis of services it is providing and its lowest call rates. It makes them believe that it satisfies the needs of everyone (viz all classes, age & genders). It tells them that Ufone is there when anybody needs it. The brand name UFONE itself is a positioning statement.

DIFFERENTIATION

In these days of intense competition marketers find it hard to differentiate their services from those of competitors. Now customer care about only price. An unsatisfied customer will immediately go for brand switching. Thus leaving a customer unsatisfied and not meeting his/her demands is out of question for marketers.

Differentiation Strategy:

Ufone has always strategied in satisfying the demands of its customers. In doing so it has been successful in differentiating itself in terms of:-

·                    Price

·                    Quality service

·                    Technology

► CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

With 28 million mobile users in Pakistan, Ufone is having a subscriber base of around 7 million. Ufone is showing a remarkable growth rate. It is maintaining a healthy customer relationship through its “customer service centers” and “call centers”. Its department of “Customer Operations” is specially designed for maintaining Customer Relationships.

Customer Relationship Strategy:

Ufone strategize to build and maintain strong customer relationships in order to build long-term customer loyalty and to capture customer lifetime value. In this context Ufone has been training its internees and permanent employees in the fine art of interacting with customers. It is also strategizing to offer gifts & rewards for its long-term customers in its PostPay to match the wonderful customer relationship strategy of INDIGO.

TOTAL MARKET ORIENTATION

Total Market Orientation is about understanding and meeting customer’s expressed and latent needs.

Strategy:

Ufone has always considered the ever growing needs of low call rates and quality service. It has provided its customers their needed packages and has introduced such brands & packages that meet customer’s latent needs as well. For example 5 ka 15 is result of a latent need of women of our society. They plan to make a short call but it becomes a long one unintentionally due to gossips and chit chats.

COMPETITORS

There is a hard core competition among the cellular service providers in Pakistan. Ufone is a market challenger in its competitive position, where MOBILINK is the market leader. Warid, Telenor and newly introduced ZONG are also strong contenders in market challenger category. Ufone has the following four direct competitors:-

• Mobilink
• Telenor
• Warid 

Ufone also considers the following as its competitors:-

• ZONG (former PAKTEL)
• PTCL WIRELESS
• Wateen
• WorldCall
• S.Com.