Hardcell

BPL Mobile has made a comeback after two years. Will consumers get wired?

A small boy in the classroom waits interminably for the bell to ring; caught in a cobweb, a fragile butterfly flutters its wings, desperate to pull free; a boy fights to extricate himself from the folds of the heavy sweater he is wearing; and a man in an office stretches to reach a pile of papers just beyond his reach as he speaks to someone on a fixed line.

These are some of the images from BPL Mobile's new television campaign "" a 60-second commercial shot by filmmaker Prasoon Pandey. The communication from the commercial is clear: freedom.

It's been a quiet two years for BPL Mobile. The cellular service provider hasn't been seen on television since early 2002. Now it's back; and, once again, with a changed message.

From "connecting the wirefree generation" in 2000 and being the "leader of the wirefree generation" in 2001 to highlighting the aspect of superior coverage and clarity of sound in early 2002, BPL Mobile has flirted with various positionings in the past.

The ad in 2002 featured a man at a clamorous bus stand who gets a call on his mobile. Once he puts the phone to his ear, a strange silence descends around him.

Slowly, as realisation dawns, he smiles. The next image shows his pregnant wife sitting at home, smiling fondly. She is seen pressing a phone against her stomach. The message that time was perfect sound clarity.

The latest ad highlights the spirit of "freedom", although the advertising agency behind the campaign, TBWAIndia, insists it's a new interpretation of the existing positioning "" promoting a wirefree world.

Says TBWAIndia Executive Creative Director Narayan Kumar, "BPL Mobile has always been talking about its superior technology. So, while the positioning is not radically different from the past, we have taken a fairly dramatic leap with the new campaign."

Why is BPL Mobile stating the obvious? After all, the "wirefree" proposition is applicable equally to all other cellular service providers, too.

Not so, says K Sanjay Prabhu, vice president, brand management, BPL Mobile Cellular; BPL Mobile has "always owned" the proposition of a wirefree world.

"Our new communication is aimed at creating more sizzle around the brand. With the new campaign, we want to say we are back with a bang," he adds.

Instead, the new campaign almost seems a retort to the advertising strategy of BPL Mobile's competitors. Airtel's advertising emphasises the need to communicate and express oneself and Hutch extols the strength and reach of its network.

How is BPL Mobile different? "Other operators have been playing on an emotional platform that's not always convincing. BPL Mobile's campaign is perhaps the only one that focuses on the technology," says Prabhu.

"Though the new ad is slick, the underlying concept and the content is fundamentally Indian," adds Narayan, referring to the traditional school and kabbadi game featured in the ad.

But why did it take BPL Mobile two long years to renew its connection with consumers? Industry observers put it down to the noise made by the competition.

Says an analyst, "The campaigns created by Air Tel and Hutch have proved to be captivating. BPL Mobile needed to increase its awareness levels and fight for a share of voice in the market." Or as Narayan puts it, "BPL Mobile needed to find a voice of its own."

One reason could have been the delay in financial closures due to the continuous changes in BPL Mobile's foreign shareholding. Its original partner, in 1994, was US West Cellular.

That stake was passed on to Media One when it acquired US West, which was later, in turn, acquired by AT&T. The cellular service provider then became a joint venture between AT&T and BPL Mobile with the former holding 49 per cent stake and the latter 51 per cent.

It was only last year, after AT&T decided to exit all its global operations, that BPL Mobile bought out the American company and now wholly owns the company.

"It was expected to take place in 1999 but came through only last year, due to which our rollout and other marketing activities were also affected," admits Prabhu.

Network problems were another reason for the low profile in the past couple of years. After incoming calls became free from May 2003, cellular usage has exploded in the country.

As traffic increased, so did network congestion. Which means consumer complaints may increase. And that's not a good time to advertise.

BPL Mobile, though, offers a different reasoning. Unlike Airtel, which is present in 15 telecom circles, and Hutch (11 circles), BPL Mobile's presence is restricted to just four telecom circles "" Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu (including Pondicherry).

Mass media advertising did not appear to be a value-for-money proposition in that context; so the company stuck to print and outdoor campaigns.

That strategy has worked, to some extent. In Mumbai, while Hutch dominates 35 per cent of the market with four million subscribers, BPL Mobile is a close number two with 34 per cent (1.5 million subscribers). The balance 31 per cent is accounted for by Air Tel, MTNL and others.

Now, with the company planning to increase its subscriber base to two million from the current 1.5 million, by March 2003, brand visibility is a priority.

The marketing budget has increased three-fold, to Rs 45 crore. Outdoor promotions have also been running for a couple of months already.

Now, the company has also tied up some promotions along with the new campaign; the latest promotions include services like "send a song" to any phone anywhere in the world and "send a gift".

It remains to be seen whether the new advertising campaign will help BPL Mobile make the right connection.