Lately we have seen Warid advertisements missing on TV. Where have they gone? Why aren't they as aggressively conducting their marketing campaigns as some of their rivals i.e. Ufone, Moblink, Zong? Its one question that we at Telecom Branding in Pakistan have been pondering over for a long time.
We came up with a number of possible reasons but there is one that I deem far more plausible than others. When Warid entered the market a few years ago, its marketing campaign was as energetic as any other. But over the years we have seen a steady decline in its branding aggression. I personally think that it may be due primarily to the fact that once Warid was done promoting itself so energetically, it had its loyal customer base created and they no longer needed to attract more customers. Instead they were probably more inclined towards the qualitative element of 'providing the best' to their current market share instead of poorly serving a very large rather unmanageable customer base.
However at the same time in order to retain these customers they kept on providing offers such as lower rates and SMS bundles and late night cheap call rates in a steady manner. This in technical terms is what they call 'market penetration' in which you try and make more sales to existing customers. And this is apparently Warid's plan for now.
Another interesting aspect to this situation is the introduction of GLOW, however. Previously Warid had two main dishes on its menu- ZEM & ZAHI. While the former dealt in pre-paid service, the latter had its name amongst post-paid numbers. GLOW is the recent addition to the pre-paid service family of Warid. I think the way
they have promoted themselves this time is more inclined towards youth and youngsters than Zem was. Zem with its basic red and white colors while GLOW employs the entire spectrum of colors. By word of mouth, I have heard that GLOW is offering the cheapest SMS rates these days with some of them being as low-priced at 'unlimited number of text messages for 7 Rs. a WEEK!' I mean what else could today's young people of Pakistan ask for who are constantly glued to their phone sets sending texts. But even GLOW isn't being as actively marketed as its Telenor djuice and Mobilink Jazz counterparts. The question is WHY? Is the answer market penetration or is it something else?
Feel free to share your opinion with us by commenting on this post.
We came up with a number of possible reasons but there is one that I deem far more plausible than others. When Warid entered the market a few years ago, its marketing campaign was as energetic as any other. But over the years we have seen a steady decline in its branding aggression. I personally think that it may be due primarily to the fact that once Warid was done promoting itself so energetically, it had its loyal customer base created and they no longer needed to attract more customers. Instead they were probably more inclined towards the qualitative element of 'providing the best' to their current market share instead of poorly serving a very large rather unmanageable customer base.
However at the same time in order to retain these customers they kept on providing offers such as lower rates and SMS bundles and late night cheap call rates in a steady manner. This in technical terms is what they call 'market penetration' in which you try and make more sales to existing customers. And this is apparently Warid's plan for now.
Another interesting aspect to this situation is the introduction of GLOW, however. Previously Warid had two main dishes on its menu- ZEM & ZAHI. While the former dealt in pre-paid service, the latter had its name amongst post-paid numbers. GLOW is the recent addition to the pre-paid service family of Warid. I think the way
they have promoted themselves this time is more inclined towards youth and youngsters than Zem was. Zem with its basic red and white colors while GLOW employs the entire spectrum of colors. By word of mouth, I have heard that GLOW is offering the cheapest SMS rates these days with some of them being as low-priced at 'unlimited number of text messages for 7 Rs. a WEEK!' I mean what else could today's young people of Pakistan ask for who are constantly glued to their phone sets sending texts. But even GLOW isn't being as actively marketed as its Telenor djuice and Mobilink Jazz counterparts. The question is WHY? Is the answer market penetration or is it something else?Feel free to share your opinion with us by commenting on this post.
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10 comments:
well about the sms thing in glow being as low as 7/week is correct bt its not unlimited... only 700 texts/week which is quite reasonable for many of us.
There are some rumors in the market that Warid Telecom is planning a merger with another group. And they don't have enough resources right now to launch a successful compaign for their products. They're probably waiting for the right time.
Impressive article and comparison between brands. As a customer of Warid myself, I am intrigued by these circulating rumours as well. I think a merger is on the cards.
I wouldn't agree that Warid has low rates. Their rates have been steadily increasing with time, and there are loads of people (like me) who let go of it. They started off with Rs.5 for 250 messages, and went upto Rs.9. Although, their network is awesome. And this was a good article (:
thanks for your opinions everyone. as far as the errors in quoting call/sms rates are concerned, i'll revisit them ASAP.
a merger will be a surprise! anyway, lets all wait and watch.
Warid is growing with lowest package rates, its postpaid and prepaid packages are good enough to catch the marketing. Warid GPRS is somewhat expensive but still it is becoming hot favorite telecom company of Pakistan
i think warid is not into marketting these days because they are probably waiting for a merger aswell
i think warid is not into marketting these days because they are probably waiting for a merger aswell
Its a very informative article and all the information provided is extremely useful especially the pie chart!
So far I think Warid is one of the greatest telecom brand which provides cheapest call rates,SmS packages with best network service unlike other telecom brands who are good at marketing their brand but provides no good network coverage.
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