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The telecom operator has launched a massive campaign to network with the business heads of medium enterprises.
Vodafone Business Services, the enterprise vertical of Vodafone, recently kick-started season three of 'Vodafone Drive into the Big League' with an aim to network with medium enterprises with turnovers in the range of Rs 100-500 crore.
In the first stage of the campaign, the companies are invited through various media such as advertising, PR, on ground activations (through seminars in nine cities) and email marketing.
After registration on the site, the entries will be scrutinised (by a jury that is yet to be decided) based on pre defined criteria, 10 finalists will be shortlisted. These participants will be featured on a six-episode reality series where they can present their cases on why their logos should be displayed on the cars. The series will be broadcast on ET Now. After the 5th episode, two finalists will be selected to battle it out in the Grand Finale to get their logo featured on the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 car.
Apart from OOH, Vodafone is using every possible promotion vehicle for the campaign. On the print side, it is running ads in business dailies (Economic Times, Mint, Business Standard, Financial Express and Hindu Business Line) and business magazines (Business World, India Today, Fortune and Entrepreneur). Vodafone has also launched a television commercial which is running on both national and regional business and news channels (ET Now, NDTV, IBN, Aaj Tak and regional channels).
On the digital front, it has attempted to create engagement through business websites and social media sites. The last date for registering entries is September 15.
The eligibility is different in this season. Earlier, it was about enterprises with a turnover greater than Rs 10 crore and less than Rs 250 crore, and with a total employee base of less than 1000.
Stating the reasons for altering the eligibility criteria, Chopra tells, "In the last two years, we gave this opportunity to smaller brands. Ninety per cent of the entries were from brands that were less than Rs 100 crore. The smaller brands had better growth figures due to a smaller base, putting the larger brands in a slightly disadvantageous position. This year, we want to restrict it to the brands that have already achieved a fair amount, recognise their achievement and reward the same with the logo on the car."
While Season 1 had 80,000 entries, Season 2 of the event got more than 2,70,000 entries. ABC Consultants was the winner for Season 1, while Sequel Logistics won in Season 2.
Season 3 will conduct seminars in nine cities and the participants will interact with Dr. Radhakrishnan Pillai, author of the book Corporate Chanakya, and D Shivanandan, former Police Commissioner of Mumbai, along with officials from VBS.
Chopra adds that the winning company will get an opportunity to promote its brand, reach out to people across the globe, push its business forward and find more vendors and partners.
Vodafone Business Services (VBS) provides business solutions to a wide range of business enterprises. Its solutions include connectivity, wire line services, enterprise mobility, voice solutions, effective data communication and machine to machine communication.