“Dhan Dhana Dhan, dhan dhana dhan, Goal” was a famous song from a John Abraham movie named “Goal”. “Jio launde”, is a common phrase used by many of us in India meaning, Live happily my boy (Slang). When you combine both, it becomes a network offered from Antilla, South Bombay. Right, it’s Jio.
Everyone is bamboozled by Mukesh Bhai’s offer. How was this possible? And how will they ever break-even? You can find answers for these questions on the Internet. Let’s look at some interesting qualitative and quantitative implications of Jio on Indian Economy.
- Unlimited Plans or FUPs are a means of achieving brand identity. Jio used the name Reliance to lure customers and overcame their previous drawbacks that were present in their CDMA format. They are targeting the right audience, viz., Indians. We, Indians are highly sophisticated right from our food habits to our choices. Maximize value and minimize cost is the motto of almost every Indian and Jio Captured it.
- Within, months of an astronomical launch, Jio secured 10 crore plus customers. This is what Freebies can do in a developing economy. He applied Game Theory to the fullest. The payoff is a Win-Win matrix. As the waiting time for Jio was increasing, Mukesh Bhai decided to introduce Jio in electronic stores such as Digi Express and set up Jio centres in most of the places. This is Value based approach. Indians are bored of queues and he identified that soon.
- Local players just vanished in a jiffy. The TRAI has taken a huge step in allowing this venture. The Docomo Tata Alliance is also over and the remaining players are now operating in a rather oligopoly and not exactly a perfect competition. The merger between Vodafone and Kumar Mangalam Birla’s Idea shows the consolidation acts in the market. This is not good in the long run.
- The major point to worry is, will it lead to a cartelization like how cement industry is being accused of today? Will this telecom industry ever see new entrants? Will the Freemiums become premiums for customers? The Airline industry has already increased prices to tackle the mindset of the customers and very soon, it can be expected in Jio as well.
- One good thing, however, is that Jio has increased internet penetration enormously and hence the literacy rate of internet has been amplified. The mobile internet users are addicted to it. This is the consumer behavior every MBA student studies in the curriculum and Mukesh Bhai has shown how it is done practically. Once, addicted, nothing can be done to revert, except to use the internet and learn to get de-addicted!
- Promotion, is done through the best means. That is the Indian Premier League. The size of audience viewing IPL has rocketed up and hence, sponsoring through the same, helps Jio reign through the minds of every Cricket Fan.
As of now, Jio is thinking “Hatke”. Let’s see how long the freebies and offers are going to lure customers from Mittal, Birla and BSNL.
Article Originally Written by Adithya N