Zong

Marketing Plan
Sana Khan, Hannia Masood Awan, Taimoor Tahir (BBA 4 O)

Submitted to Maam Aliya Bushra

Services Marketing

Lahore School Of Economics

Table of Contents
HISTORY OF ZONG.........................................................................5
CHINA MOBILE PAKISTAN................................................................................5
SELECTING A TARGET MARKET FOR THE SERVICE.............................6
SEGMENTATION................................................................................................. 6
TARGET MARKET............................................................................................... 7
DEMOGRAPHICS................................................................................................ 7
Age............................................................................................................. 7
Income Group................................................................................................ 7
PSYCHOGRAPHICS.............................................................................................. 8
Personality................................................................................................... 8
Attitude:....................................................................................................... 8
Values......................................................................................................... 9
Behavioral Segmentation.................................................................................. 9
POSITIONING.................................................................................................. 10
SERVICES MARKETING MIX...........................................................10
PRODUCT/SERVICE 4G DATA SERVICES..............................................................10
TANGIBLE ELEMENT 3G/4G LITE MOBILE DEVICES /BROADBAND DEVICES................10
PRICE............................................................................................................ 11
PLACE........................................................................................................... 12
Perceptual Positioning:.................................................................................. 13
PROMOTION................................................................................................... 13
Positive word of Mouth.................................................................................. 13
Perception (Positive)..................................................................................... 14
PEOPLE......................................................................................................... 14
Experience................................................................................................. 15
Hospitality.................................................................................................. 15
PROCESSES.................................................................................................... 16
Inform the customer...................................................................................... 16
Order taking............................................................................................... 16
Billing....................................................................................................... 17
Mode of payment.......................................................................................... 17
Safekeeping................................................................................................ 17
Services As Theatre....................................................................................... 17
Front Stage................................................................................................. 18
Back Stage.................................................................................................. 18
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT:.................................................................................. 18
QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY..............................................................................19
Productivity:............................................................................................... 20
Components of Quality.................................................................................. 20
Soft and Hard Measures of Service Quality:.........................................................21
NEW SERVICE..............................................................................21
THE 3 STAGE MODEL....................................................................22
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR...................................................................................... 25
SERVICE MODEL...........................................................................26
DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS.............................................................32

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PRICING......................................................................................35
POSITIONING SERVICES IN COMPETITIVE MARKETS........................36
PRODUCTIVITY AND QUALITY........................................................38
SUBMISSION 1 INTERVIEWS (ZONG)............................................41

History of Zong
China Mobile Pakistan
China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak) is a 100% owned subsidiary of China Mobile
Communications Corporation. The pioneering overseas set up of China Mobile came
through acquisition of a license from Millicom to operate a GSM network in Pakistan.
Taken over in 2007 with a market share of only 2%, Zong has seen exponential growth in
the last few years to increase it by 10 folds to about 20%. Currently, CMPak engages in
the provision of cellular mobile voice and data services to the Pakistani market through
2G, 3G and 4G technologies.

CMPak envisions to enable a fully connected environment for Pakistanis by leveraging

the technological edge in 4G LTE, whilst providing the most reliable and affordable

6
products in the market. On the technological front, CMPak draws heavily from the
research and experience of China Mobile Communications Corporation, which is the
largest telecom service provider in the world, thus enabling cutting edge, state-of-the art
services to subscribers. The service award of No.1 Operator in voice and data services
by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority testifies these high standards of
performance.

CMPak has over 26 million subscribers and a market share reaching 20%. Currently, our
4G coverage extends to over 100 cities of Pakistan and this number is increasing day by
day. CMPak has the highest number of 4G sites in the highest number of cities which
testifies our commitment to provide a stable, affordable and reliable network to our
customers. In the coming years CMPak aims to provide a faster, wider and deeper data
quality experience to the users. We believe that digitization is a catalyst for economic
growth and we will continue to enable it by leading the data services market of Pakistan.

Selecting A Target Market For The Service

Segmentation

Our marketing strategy involves dividing a broad target market into subsets of
consumers, businesses, or countries that have, or are perceived to have, common needs,
interests, and priorities, and then designing and implementing strategies to target them.
Target market
Zongs target market is a group of customers we have decided to aim our marketing
efforts towards. Our target audience and our main focus are the middle and upper middle
class adolescents and young adults.
Demographics
Age
The target market for our core product includes young adults and prospective consumers
who are affiliated with a prominent educational institute (People who are currently
enrolled into various educational institution) Young adults (male and female) with the age
bracket of 14-24 as well as university goers (Of different ages).

Income Group
Most of the profits / benefits of this core product are targeted at stable group aligned with
educational institutions within Pakistan which will form the major chunk of our customer
base. As a consequence we will apply niche marketing in marketing our product. We
have chosen the Middle / Upper middle class for this accordingly. (SEC B and SEC C
respectively) We have focused on Private school/college/university goers since they are
the ones who have the ability to consistently pay for our services and thus become longterm customers.
As marketers, we know that most of our revenue is generated from 20 % of our customer
base.

Psychographics

Personality
The personality traits found in the customers that would like to try our product Zong
4G, which basically revolves around the repositioning of the existing product of Zong.
Zong previously targeted the youth in general. Now we are targeting a micro-segment
within the youth who are enrolled in different educational institution. These individuals
are are technologically advanced individuals e-Mersives (Mainly students) and
Techno-pragmatists who want to be connected to the internet 24/7 and Zong will
facilitate their instantaneous need for gaining information, and need for cyber
connectivity. They are a part of the Generation Y population browse the World Wide Web

9
the most and are therefore constant users of the Internet. They have member ship to/ are
part of social reference groups on the web.(E.g Social Sites such as Twitter, Facebook,
Snapchat , Instagram etc)

Attitude:
Attitude refers to the measurable action of a consumer based upon his/her set perception.
They must have an interest in internet based (mobile) activities (Either informational/
entertainment or a mixture of these). Moreover Zong is specifically targeting
e-Mersivesand Techno-pragmatists among the youth.
E-Mersives are a group of users who is comfortable and naturally at home in the online
world and happy being online. They are pleased to see the Internet as an escape and to
pass time online and think of it as somewhere they can meet people and be part of a
community. They see the Internet as a technology they can control- a tool they can
employ- to make their life easier, to save time and keep in touch with people. They are
immersed in the Internet as part of their everyday life and work.

Techno-pragmatists on the other hand use the Internet primarily to save time make their
lives easier. Like e-Mersives, they feel in control of they Internet, employing it for
instrumental reasons that enhance the efficiency of their day-to-day life and work. Unlike
e-Mersives the pragmatists do not view the Internet as an escape nor do they often go
online just for the fun of it. Theirs is a more instrumental agenda of efficiency.

10
Values
The main aim of Zong is to provide information-alleviating services to the youth and
students specifically by a focus on expanding its customer base market penetration
(Market focus) as well simultaneously.

Behavioral Segmentation
In Pakistan, we mainly target the consumers who are virtually active or social, and
require high speed internet to keep them up to date with their social circles, moreover
there is specific interest in youth or adolcents who are a member of an educational
institution and consequently need mobile internet/internet facilities to gain information,
for educational purposes as opposed to an entirely leisurely purpose

Positioning
We have developed the world as it strives to expand and penetrating the young adult
market. We are targeting a micro segment of the middle/ middle upper youth (Primarily
14-26 year olds) who are currently in their education cycle, and are technologically
advanced/aware especially in relation to web use. These consist of namely: the emersives, the techno-pragmatists and the technological savvy users of the Internet.
Our unique features include our competitive edge in the market, as Zong offers the fastest
data services in Pakistan -Functioning and operational 3G and 4G Lite till data as
compared to other telecommunication/internet companies within Pakistan such as

11

Services marketing mix

The Service Marketing mix involves Product, Price , Place , Promotion, People ,Process,
Physical evidence and Productivity/Quality. The marketing mix for a service has
additional elements because the characteristics of a service are different to the
characteristics of a product. The main characteristics of a service are : Lack of ownership,
Intangibility, inseparability, and heterogeneity. To a certain extent managing services is
more complicate than managing products as products can to be standardized. However to
standardize a service is more difficult as it can be affected by factors outside the service
providers control.

Product/Service 4G data services

Tangible element 3G/4G Lite mobile devices /Broadband devices
Intangible element - 4 G Data transmission (Internet service)

Zongs data services are innovative and one of a kind in Pakistan up till now Zong was
the only company to have successfully won both the 3G and the 4G licenses in the 2014
auction. It has expanded its coverage to over 100 cities nationwide, thus it is one of the
fastest growing 4G cellular network within Pakistan with the widest 4 G network. Zongs
network is rated the best by Pakistan telecommunication authority beating all it
competitors in relation with its quality and speed (According to a survey done for the
quality of Next Generation Mobile Services ). Over the last few years , the company has
been focusing upon expanding its network as well as improving the quality of its

12
services. Now it provides a faster and more stable network in the urban/rural areas of the
country with multiple packages for its data services.
In line with its new positioning the company Zong should partner up with the Higher
Education Commition in Pakistan as well as various public/private educational institutes
to provide its 4G services to students as well as universities all over Pakistan.
Recently, the company partnered with the Higher Education Commission to provide its
4G services to students and universities all across the country. It is important to note that
Zongs data speed is the fastest in the country amongst all mobile operators.

Price
The strategy we used in pricing is price skimming and value based pricing. This pricing
strategy considers the value of the product to consumers rather than how much it cost to
produce it as value in this case is based on the benefits it provides to the consumer. In
price skimming strategy: Quality is measured by various factors, with price being a
measure used by many consumers as they shop for everything from foods to electronics.
Products priced using a price-skimming strategy are perceived as high-quality products.
As Zongs 4G data services of such high quality that is not as yet offered by any other
telecommunication company in Pakistan as yet, therefore we can charge a higher price at
the initial stage We are charging our consumers a relatively higher price because our
product/service is extremely innovative. We have targeted a niche/micro segment of
youth. The price will enable the consumers to perceive that our internet/ data service is of
better and higher quality than of our competitors. (Mobilink, Warid, Zong).

13

Place
Physical Positioning
Refers to where Zong as a service provider is physically located. This is of utmost
importance as consumers gain clues of the quality of service (Efficiency as well as
effectiveness) from the tangible aspects of the service like location and distribution.
Location and Availability: The 4G/3G devices for the Internet Data will be available in
every medium and large scale retailer/ vendor in the country. The biometric system that is
established by the telecommunication company (Zong) will be abolished so that young
teens can also make use of these services provided by Zong without the need of having
their own identity card. Moreover youth from over 100 cities can activate Zongs data
services though their Internet website. (Readily available to individuals)
However in order for an educational institution wants to acquire Zongs data services, it
must visit a registered franchise of Zong. This is done so that the consumer has high
contact with the Zong employees so that Zong will be able to form a long- term
relationship with their key client. It can achieve this by giving the educational institutions
price cuts, special offers and discounts on using its services
Perceptual Positioning:
The youth (The existing Zong users) will be attracted to their data services to its quality
and the element of loyalty with relation to products/services in consumers.
Promotion
Our product will be propagated through the use of Billboards throughout Lahore, TVCs
on popular teen/young adult channels such as HBO, Geo etc. The magazine ad will be

14
published in youth magazines like Fashion Central (Lahore), More Magazine (A monthly
magazine for Technology, Entertainment and Economy of Pakistan (Karachi)), Spider (a
monthly computer magazine), and Picklist Magazine Pakistan. Promotion will also be
done in the shape of sales promotion. Brochures/Leaflets shall be circulated at different
educational institutions, Internet cafes
Moreover Discount packages and price cuts should be implemented regarding providing
broadband services 4 G services to Libraries, internet cafes, universities, colleges and
sponsoring various educational conferences/ guest speakers in the major cities of
Pakistan.
Positive word of Mouth
There will promotion and the use of buzz marketing as well to spread positive word of
mouth, so that a positive perception is built in the mind of the consumer that is later
reflected in his purchase/re-purchase decision (In relation to the service)
Perception (Positive)
The positive perception in the consumers mind can be further built through database
marketing, effective promotion (use of discrimination stimulus), and the formation of
relationships with consumers through the use of Self concept attachment,
Interdependence (Consumer: data services are integral to my being, an every day/
indispensible need as opposed to a want) and social/ green marketing .As the consumer
thinks that the brand or product traits are related to his own trait as a person and will raise
the perception of Zong as it is a telecommunication company which is helping to
eradicate illiteracy in Pakistan through a variety of different methods.

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People
One of the most important elements of the Marketing Mix is people. This includes
everyone who is involved in the product or service whether directly or indirectly. Not all
of these people get in touch with the customers. But all of these people have their own
roles to play in the production, marketing, distribution and delivery of the
products/services to the consumers.

This aspect refers to those who are employed by the company to : design, develop and
carry out the services offered by the company; it includes the people who do market
research to establish demand and determine customer needs ; the people who deliver the
services in an effective and efficient manner, the people how provide consumer support
services as well as those who serve as touch points for customer interaction.
Customer and service provider has high contact in Zong Franchises/ retailers because
there is one to one interaction between the both. From telephone to personally visiting the
facilitation centers, customers are directly dealt with the service provider to answer their
queries and cater to their complaints. However there is low contact when consumers
order their broadband/ mobile internet devices, or select their preferred package of data
service from Zongs facebook page or website. (E-retailing/buying).
Experience
They provide with detailed information about internet packages and zong devices to
customers with every tiny detail, be it face to face or if they have inquired via telephone.
The employees are trained in a way to cater to customer query and complaints in a
manner to satisfy them. Zong wants to create additional value for the customer, so

16
quality provision and deliverability of the service will be the utmost goals. The customers
will be satisfied to the maximum and their queries will be catered in a manner that will
make them feel that Zong is actually providing value to them.
Hospitality
Zongs engineers tend to visit the places with coverage problem themselves to have a
survey of the problem and then get it fixed. They provide a time frame of 2 working
hours for fixing the complaints that they have. They conduct software training programs
to teach the employees with good speaking skills who work in the call center. The
employees are also trained to be pleasant with the customer, keep the voice at an
understandable pitch, not to be very loud to come out rude or not to be very low so they
wont be able to be understood. They are trained to be polite at all the times because body
language in high contact level matters a lot and the customer should feel that they are
cared at all costs.

Processes
Process is another element of the services marketing mix. Some see processes as a means
to achieve an outcome (E.g. a certain market share). At each stage of the process,
marketers: Deliver value through all elements of the marketing mix. Process, physical
evidence and people enhancing services. Feedback can be taken from the consumers and
the mix can be altered accordingly. The process itself can be tailored to the needs of
different individuals, experiencing a similar service at the same time.

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Inform the customer
Zong informs customers about the offerings through tvcs, billboards magazine adds,
social media mainly. When the customer walks in to our facilitating center, we provide
them with knowledge about the bio metric identification system, all the packages that we
offer, range of the internet and the prices accordingly.
However with moving the positioning towards the educational sector of Pakistan, Zong
has decided to eliminate the compulsion of having a bio metric verification since the
target market also consist of consumers who are below 18. Such consumers will be
catered through their student cards instead. Brochures/pamphlets, facebook popup will
also be an added as well now to let the consumer understand the services better.
Order taking
The consumers purchase the product right there and then from our facilitation centers.
They however also book orders on telephone and take a time frame of around 2 working
days. We have also incorporated an online ordering system now that too from our official
website.
Moreover, order by educational institution which wants to acquire Zongs data services, it
must visit a registered franchise of Zong. This will be done so that the consumer has high
contact with the Zong employees so that Zong will be able to form a long- term
relationship with their key client. It can achieve this by giving the educational institutions
price cuts, special offers and discounts on using its services
Billing
Zong provides customers with receipt of payment of their order, an invoice that provides
as a conformation of their order and how much they are going to pay with the total
amount mentioned on it.

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Mode of payment
The customer pays us at our shop directly via cash and credit/debit card. They also have
a facility of providing online recharge through our official website.
Safekeeping
Their shops have usually a stand out guard during the working hours and even after that
who ensures safety of the customers who walk in. The calls with customers are recorded
as well to keep a record of how they have interacted with the consumer so nobody can be
violated in any manner.
Services As Theatre
Processes essentially have inputs, though-outs and outputs (or outcome) Marketing adds
value to each of the stages. There are a number of types of processes. Processes include
direct activities and indirect activities. Direct activities add value at the customer
interface level as the consumer experiences the service (Front End), while many
processes are supported by indirect activities which support the service before, during
and after it has been consumed.

Front Stage
The operations involve providing information to the prospective consumers to aid their
information search.In this part, appropriate and polite customer dealing is of the utmost
importance. Zong state of the art 4g and 3g internet services to its customers and helps
them chose a package that caters to their needs.

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Back Stage
Receiving the data of customers and the specifications of their Zong services.
Connecting them with zong internet/services. Taking care of the wear and tear of their
distribution channels throughout Pakistan so their service quality at the front end is
maintained. Leading to content consumers.
Script:
Receiving the customer queries/complaints from the call centres and long helpline and
resolving them through the expertise of ICT specialists

Physical Environment:
The physical service environment consumers experience plays a significant role in
shaping the service experience and enhancing ( or undermining) consumer satisfaction
especially in high contact people processing services. Service environments also called
servicescapes, relate to the style and appearance of the physical surroundings and other
experiential elements encountered by consumers at service encounter stage (service
delivery sites)
Services capes serve four purposes, they engineer the consumer experience and shape
consumer behavior and support its positioning and differentiation strategy. They are also
part of the value-proposition , and they facilitate the service encounter stage enhancing
both service quality and productivity.
Service environments also called services capes, are also very important when it comes to
high contact because it could relate to the style and appearance of the physical
surroundings and other experiential elements encountered by consumers at service

20
encounter stage (service delivery sites). Pleasant environment builds up a happy
customer. Relaxed surroundings matter while communicating because they dont really
agitate the customer and they feel calm while reporting to the problems or dealing with
the queries. This creates customer satisfaction on the whole as well as brings value
proposition for them.
Quality and Productivity
In integral services management, improving productivity is a requisite

in cost

management ; but quality as defined by the customer is essential for a service to

differentiate itself from other providers. The overall profitability of a firm many be
greatly impacted by focusing not only at the top-line by improving sales but also focusing
at the bottom line by lowering over all cost of delivering services. In services
management, often the variable costs are a lot more than the fixed costs , and the
incremental costs. So for services , a firm may greatly benefit through proper reengineering of the processes and remodeling the same if required to improve productivity
at each stage.It has also been established in research that process improvements deliver
better standardization and hence better quality in services. Quality perception is a crucial
differentiating factor on services management and for long-term sustainability of the
same. Business Process Remodeling can lead to major process efficiency improvements
which again can impact overall quality as is actually delivered by the firm and is also
perceived by the customers / clientele.
Productivity:
Productivity is the efficiency by which a task is achieved, and a relationship between in
the input and output of a product. By targeting students, we aim to achieve productivity

21
by achieving the target of reducing illiteracy and gaining more customers from the age of
14-26, with minimal cost. As a result, productivity will be achieved and more budget will
be available for R&D to improve customer service and serve target market effectively.

Components of Quality
Some components of quality relatable to our service are reliability, because students will
be provided accurate information without any ambiguity in consuming data services they
can rely on without doubt, helping them enhance their education and connectivity with
the world.
There will also be empathy because zong data services will be easily accessible to
students due to discounts and events in universities, and customer complaints will be
handled with the utmost attention.

Soft and Hard Measures of Service Quality:

Soft measures are those measures of service quality that cannot be easily observed and
must be collected by talking to customers, employees or others. In our new service, we
can measure service quality through surveys of students, asking them about how the
speed of internet service and reliability was to get a better understanding of quality and
suggestions to improve it in future.
Hard measure is those measures that can be counted, timed or measured. We can use hard
measures to count the number of increased customers in our micro segment of students
and express it as a percentage increase annually e.g. 5% monthly increase. This can be

22
used as a helpful stat for other strategies in R&D department and suggest areas of
improvement.

New service
With the new positioning strategy, Zong has also incorporated a new service of providing
the consumers at the educational front with an addition of 100 mbps of internet data even
when the recharge is fully utilized or expires. This will be a service that will help the
consumers to use Zongs internet service before actually making the payment.
On their next recharge, they will be have to pay the credit amount of the additional 100
mbps that they have consumed once their recharge amount exceeds or expires. This will
allow to build a stronger connection with the customer as they will get more for less i.e
hey have paid less but will be getting more of zongs product. It will also add value
proposition and a way where customer can enjoy the service for a longer period of time.

The 3 Stage Model

The 3 Stage model (Consumer and Marketer perspective)

Pre-purchase issue according to consumers perspective

23
Pre purchase issue is that the consumer has lack of awareness/ knowledge regarding the
facility that we are providing them or they are unsure about the quality of service that
Zong is providing. They are not aware that our company is coming up with the a service
that will satisfy their utility and will be convenient for them to browse the web / internet
using applications with out any hassle hence providing convenience as well as saving
time.

Service encounter stage: regarding consumer perspective

We will provide them the utmost pleasant experience as some customers face difficulties
while in the service encounter stage as some prospective consumers turn away in the end
due to lack of hospitability. In this stage the People and process, physical
environment are of utmost importance. Zong will deliver the tangible products of the
service to all high end/large/middle-sized retailers as well as maintaining their own
franchises /licensed stores through out Pakistan. The 3G/4G devices (The tangible aspect
of Zongs service) those store that have enough space that the prospective consumers
could easily buy the product. Other than that, shelf spacing will also influence the
consumers perception. We will place our tangible product (3G/4G mobile devices/
broadband boxes) on the front shelves so consumers wont have to search for the product
and it will help us to create a pleasant experience as our consumers as they will find it
easy to find our products on shelves. In large departmental stores/Malls we will also hire
some workers of our company who will be dressed in our company trade dress and they
will guide our consumers towards the Zongs services and products.

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Post-Encounter stage issue regarding consumers perspective
Consumers satisfaction is one of the major aspects of this issue. As in this during or after
consuming the Zongs data services the consumers tend to give their opinions/ feedback
regarding our service. It gives us the clear-cut idea that what are consumers views about
our service and the failures that may occur so that we can provide speedy recovery. It also
inculcates the aspect of whether the consumer will they rebuy our service or not.

Pre purchase issue according to marketers perspective

Pre purchase issue in the perspective of marketers is that what attitude a consumer holds
about a service and how is it changed. We will employ relationship marketing more
specifically

social

marketing

as

well

We will also employ database marketing through which we will contact all those people
who bought our service before and inform them about our new campaigns.

Service Encounter stage-Issue according to marketing perspective

The service encounter issue faced by our company is the factors that affect the decision of
buying the service for a consumer. In our case the major service encounter issue is that
we would have to deliver optimum quality, reliability, hospitability and deliverability in
our service so that the consumers will be satisfied by the service. Moreover Zong faces
the most to face the competition from our competitors in the market which are Lipton or
Supreme. It is that these two companies come across certain stage to recover their sales
and certain marketing strategy which might affect our sales.

25
Post Encounter service - issues according to marketing perspective
Post purchase issues are that whether consumers are satisfied with our product. This issue
is of great concern for us (marketers) as it leads to word of mouth of a companys service.
It will create the image of the company in the minds of its consumers. This issue is of
great importance as a positive perception and repurchasing of Zongs data service holds
utmost importance in determining the company/services growth and future.

Business ethics & Marketing ethics

Our business is being conducted ethically. There are no such unlawful mean or doing in
this business. We have provided are with the latest facilities and the latest gadgets that
will make their work easier and time saving. There are no such frauds done by the
company or inside the company. All the information are and process are computerized.
We also keep in mind the marketing ethics while conducting a business. We neither target
our competitors directly nor do we target them indirectly. We even dont indulge in any
kind of price wars with our competitors. You can even see in our advertisements that
neither blurred the image of any of our competitor nor did we use any statement that may
create any differences between our competition and us. We are running our business
lawfully and keeping in mind both the business and marketing ethics.
Consumer Behavior
Selection of service / Brand
Zong already exists in the market and their current strategy is focused upon targeting the
youth. We have repositioned Zong and targeted a niche within the youth, namely the
student goers and educational institutions. Zongs core services will be preferred by the

26
consumer base who are already satisfied consumers as well as students/youth who look
for the fastest and most reliable way to stay connected to the internet 24/7.

Purchasing it (Availability and Location)

The 4G/3G devices for the Internet Data will be available in every medium and large
scale retailer/ vendor in the country. The biometric system that is established by the
telecommunication company (Zong) will be abolished so that young teens can also make
use of these services provided by Zong without the need of having their own identity
card. Moreover youth from over 100 cities can activate Zongs data services though their
Internet website. (Readily available to individuals)
However in order for an educational institution wants to acquire Zongs data services, it
must visit a registered franchise of Zong. This is done so that the consumer has high
contact with the Zong employees so that Zong will be able to form a long- term
relationship with their key client. It can achieve this by giving the educational institutions
price cuts, special offers and discounts on using its services

Service Encounter stage:

We will deal the consumer in such a way that they are fully satisfied with the product. By
providing value for money, hospitality, effective and efficient services delivery and a
wide variety of enhancing/supplementary services

Utility of the product and Customer Value

The price is kept economical, but kept above average (As we are targeting the Middle /

27
Upper class youth (trendsetters) who seek constant information, accuracy and instant
access to the cyber space, world wide web including the ever so popular social
networking sites (Twitter, instagram, facebook etc.)with the addition of various packages
and memberships deals (Discounts etc.)for educational institutions and individual
students

Service Model
Supplementary services:
Facilitating and enhancing services.
Facilitating:
Flower of service:
1. Inform the customer
Zong informs customers about the offerings through tvcs, billboards magazine
adds, social media mainly. When the customer walks in to our facilitating center,
we provide them with knowledge about the bio metric identification system, all
the packages that we offer, range of the internet and the prices accordingly.
However with moving the positioning towards the educational sector of Pakistan,
Zong has decided to eliminate the compulsion of having a bio metric verification
since the target market also consist of consumers who are below 18.
consumers

will

be

catered

through

their

student

cards

Such

instead.

28
Brochures/pamphlets, facebook popup will also be an added as well now to let the
consumer understand the services better.
2. Order taking
The consumers purchase the product right there and then from our facilitation centers.
They however also book orders on telephone and take a time frame of around 2 working
days. We have also incorporated an online ordering system now that too from our official
website.
Moreover, order by educational institution which wants to acquire Zongs data services, it
must visit a registered franchise of Zong. This will be done so that the consumer has high
contact with the Zong employees so that Zong will be able to form a long- term
relationship with their key client. It can achieve this by giving the educational institutions
price cuts, special offers and discounts on using its services

3. Billing
Zong provides customers with receipt of payment of their order, an invoice that provides
as a conformation of their order and how much they are going to pay with the total
amount mentioned on it.
4. Mode of payment

The customer pays us at our shop directly via cash and credit/debit card. They
also have a facility of providing online recharge through our official website.

29
5. Safekeeping
Their shops have usually a stand out guard during the working hours and even after that
who ensures safety of the customers who walk in. The calls with customers are recorded
as well to keep a record of how they have interacted with the consumer so nobody can be
violated in any manner.

Enhancing Services:
1. Experience
They provide with detailed information about internet packages and zong devices to
customers with every tiny detail, be it face to face or if they have inquired via telephone.
The employees are trained in a way to cater to customer query and complaints in a
manner to satisfy them. Zong wants to create additional value for the customer, so
quality provision and deliverability of the service will be the utmost goals. The customers
will be satisfied to the maximum and their queries will be catered in a manner that will
make them feel that Zong is actually providing value to them.
2. Hospitality
Zongs engineers tend to visit the places with coverage problem themselves to have a
survey of the problem and then get it fixed. They provide a time frame of 2 working
hours for fixing the complaints that they have. They conduct software training programs
to teach the employees with good speaking skills who work in the call center. The
employees are also trained to be pleasant with the customer, keep the voice at an
understandable pitch, not to be very loud to come out rude or not to be very low so they

30
wont be able to be understood. They are trained to be polite at all the times because body
language in high contact level matters a lot and the customer should feel that they are
cared at all costs.
3. Exception

They have launched a 4G- tour bus which visits different universities where students can
get a complete experience of our quality for free. They can also make sim purchases
there.
They also provide service to whole Pakistan and have better towers than their
competitiors even in the rural areas.
Their association with HEC can also bring a revolutionized way of gaining education
with the help of technological evolution. By association with HEC, students can be
provided with the facilities of personalized tabs, tablets and digital education which can
make the Pakistani education system reach the heights of prosperity and development.

Service Failure and Recovery

During the initial launch of Zong, there were few signal towers that were widely
dispersed. Therefore when a large number of customers started using our network, there
was a significant signal issue. The small number of towers that covered long distances
couldnt adequately serve the number of customers that Zong had so quickly acquired
(As it was the cheapest in the market). This led to the wide complaint of consumers that
there are voice problems on call which led to a general perception that Zong is cheap but
provides low quality service.

31
There are several methods through which we are trying to change this negative
perception about Zong and increase our profit margins in the current market situation.
It has started changing its perceptual positioning by focusing on SEC B and C instead of
C and D ( This group has more disposal income ) moreover Zong has started to select the
target market and make respective marketing / promotional strategies accord to the
attractive psychographic and behavioral characteristics of SEC B.

It is currently trying to Revamp its Brand, to develop its brand image as a higher quality
premium telecommunications service provider E.g Zongs logo and over all all trade
colours have been changed which signify the energy, and the shift to targeting youth and
the younger middle/ middle upper class consumers. Relationship marketing is employed
in billboards/ Magazine Ads and TVCs.
Zong has also started using a 4G-tour bus.
By using some new promotional tools such as focusing on youth experience as our 4g bus
takes a tour of universities during day time where students can come in bus and use free
4g service to get familiar with our quality of service. Sims can also be bought in the bus.
Hence there is brand awareness in different universities. This bus also goes to markets at
night in order to create a unique positive experience for its prospective consumers and
change the developed perception of the target market/ existing consumers.

We promoted a poster in shops where a girl was blowing a kiss in the air to which
shopkeepers complained that it was unethical. So we had to persuade them regarding the

32
idea behind our poster. Furthermore we made a point to keep in mind the sensitivity of all
our stakeholders (Internal and external) and vowed to not repeat such content again.

FOUR SPECTRUMS OF A BRAND

1. BRANDED HOUSE
The products are sold under one name and that is zong itself.
2. INDIVIDUAL BRANDS
Dont cater to individual branding
3. SUB BRANDS
No.
4. ENDORSED
No.
SUB BRANDS
Product line extension: The internet devices have 4g wingle, 4g mobile wifi (huwaei and
fiber home)
Brand line extension: No

DIFFERENT STRATEGIES TO EXPAND SERVICE:

1. Major change in the core product
2. Major process innovation
3. Visual change, style change
4. Change in enhancing and facilitating services

33

Distribution Channels
4 Categories Of Service
1. People processing
2. Possession processing
Customer and service provider has high contact because there is one to one interaction
between the both. From telephone to personally visiting the facilitation centers,
customers are directly dealt with the service provider to answer their queries and cater to
their complaints. Service environments also called servicescapes, are also very important
when it comes to high contact because it could relate to the style and appearance of the
physical surroundings and other experiential elements encountered by consumers at
service encounter stage (service delivery sites). Pleasant environment builds up a happy
customer. Relaxed surroundings matter while communicating because they dont really
agitate the customer and they feel calm while reporting to the problems or dealing with
the queries. This creates customer satisfaction on the whole as well as brings value
proposition for them.

(high contact, physical contact)

3. Mental stimulus
4. Information stimulus
The online service of ordering and making payments has allowed zong to have minimal
contact with the customer where the focus is on the usage of electronic media and to take
orders accordingly.

34
(low contact, electronic media)

SINGLE SITE TO DELIVER:

MULTILPLE SITES TO DELIVER: (convenience, availability, positioning)
For multiple:
1. Locational.
2. Geographical
3. Economies of scale
Multiple sites

Zong products will be available at a variety of sites (Medium sized retailers, Malls). More
over there will be various Zong franchises throughout Pakistan. Preferably where the
majority of its customers are E.g Urban centers and cities like Lahore, Islamabad and
Karachi. These franchises are an effective way to expand the delivery of service, as it will
provide convenience to the consumers. It will facilitate the buying of Zong products by
prospective consumers due to nearness and high level of availability. The process of
Franchising can achieve this process of expanding by Zong where the owner will pay
Zong to acquire the specialized store. Multiple Service Call centers functional and
located through out Zongs services distribution area will also cater to the complaints and
queries of the consumers, take preemptive measures to prevent service failure and
promote service satisfaction which will further lead to increase in market share and
growth of Zong as a strong Internet service provider within Pakistan
Moreover, Zong will practice Multiple channel Retailing. Multiple channel retailing

35
refers to a marketing strategy under which Zong will sell its products to consumers
through various channels; its specific franchises, its retailers (Malls/ mobile shops etc) ,
its website (Zong) as well as its Facebook page. This innovative strategy in the long term
will lead to improved customer perception, increased sales, better data collection and
enhanced productivity (At the back end)

3 FLOWS OF DISTRIBUTION OF SERVICE:

1. INFORMATION AND PROMOTION FLOW
Zong has a wider practice of this flow since it believes and is providing information to
the customers in every aspect that it could in order to make them interested and
eventually persuade them to buy the packages. Zong already has the cheapest rates as it is
catering to demographics of section C and D. However they are now shifting towards the
B and C class in accordance with the psychographics.
The new strategy however will have a higher implementation of prices because Zong is
now being associating itself with the education sector of Pakistan as a whole and it strives
to communicate a high quality reputation and hence charging more.
2. PRODUCT FLOW

3. NEGOTIATION FLOW
2 CASES INVOLVED

36

ROLE OF INTERMEDIRY, FRANCHISING, LICENSING

Pricing
The pricing tripod:
Value based pricing: Since our 4g service is the fastest in Pakistan compared to other
networks, we will use value based pricing as consumers have a perception of high quality
internet service from Zong. This will allow us to charge higher price to the young
students for our services as our target market will be willing to pay more, while using the
extra returns in further promoting education among young students
Ethical Concerns:
We understand that in our campaign to eradicate illiteracy, we have to make sure that
there is no deceiving from our side to our potential customers to set up a good example,
and high ethical standards are maintained. Therefore it is made sure that our pricing
details are detailed and no hidden charges are deducted.
Who should collect payment?
The local retailers and franchises, which is supervised by Zong regional office,will
collect payment directly from the customers who will reach the outlets. So there will be
an indirect channel.
Where payment should be made?
Payment should be made at the closest and most convenient retailer/franchise by
customers.
When should payment be made?
Payment should be made when the 4g device or other Zong services is purchased.
Whereas in prepaid service advance payment is made to consume the package later.

37

How to communicate prices?

Television Commercials, Bill Boards and Social media will be the most common medium
to convey prices to our targeted young students since they are exposed to them most
often.

Positioning Services in Competitive Markets

Competitive Advantage:
A competitive advantage is that advantage that helps a company differentiates its
offerings from its competitors. For this purpose, identifying a target market is important
as it helps focus on being more competitive. Zongs existing target market is 18-35 years
as the youth uses most data packages. But with our new positioning, the target market is
14-26 year old students with a focus on eradicating illiteracy. This will develop a
competitive edge for Zong as it will have a perception of student and education
promoting brand, more than any of its competitors.

Focus Strategy:
Focus strategy used by Zong when targeting students for eradicating illiteracy would be
fully focused as there will be few market served (mostly 12-26 years old) and number of
service will few as well (E.g. 4g device and data packages only)

Micro Segmentation

38
Micro segmentation strategies target small groups of customers sharing certain relevant
characteristics at a specific point in time. The existing segmentation of target market is
youth, but we will further divide it into students aged 14-26 which is a Micro
segmentation of existing segmentation.

Positioning Strategy
A positioning strategy of any firm helps develop a position for a firm or product in minds
of customers, and help differentiate from competitors. For our new service, the
positioning strategy would be that of a social welfare seeking company. As the new
service strategy will focus on eliminating illiteracy, people will perceive Zong as a
company that has high corporate social responsibility compared to its competitors. Also,
Zong will be promoted in a way that target market thinks of it as providing the best
connection with highest quality, resulting in a higher price charged compared to
competitors. In short, the positioning strategy of Zong would be to perceive it as a high
quality service providing, and social responsible brand.

39

Productivity and quality

Productivity:
Productivity is the efficiency by which a task is achieved, and a relationship between in
the input and output of a product. By targeting students, we aim to achieve productivity
by achieving the target of reducing illiteracy and gaining more customers from the age of
14-26, with minimal cost. As a result, productivity will be achieved and more budget will
be available for R&D to improve customer service and serve target market effectively.

Components of Quality

40
Some components of quality relatable to our service are reliability, because students will
be provided accurate information without any ambiguity in consuming data services they
can rely on without doubt, helping them enhance their education and connectivity with
the world.
There will also be empathy because zong data services will be easily accessible to
students due to discounts and events in universities, and customer complaints will be
handled with the utmost attention.

Soft and Hard Measures of Service Quality:

Soft measures are those measures of service quality that cannot be easily observed and
must be collected by talking to customers, employees or others. In our new service, we
can measure service quality through surveys of students, asking them about how the
speed of internet service and reliability was to get a better understanding of quality and
suggestions to improve it in future.
Hard measure is those measures that can be counted, timed or measured. We can use hard
measures to count the number of increased customers in our micro segment of students
and express it as a percentage increase annually e.g. 5% monthly increase. This can be
used as a helpful stat for other strategies in R&D department and suggest areas of
improvement.

41

Submission 1 Interviews (Zong)

What is Zong and How did it come into being?

A: Zong is a sub brand of China Mobile. China Mobile is one of the largest mobile
companies existing in China, with over 60% market share. Zong was developed by China
mobile and it came in to being in Pakistan over 8 years ago.

42

What is the core product of Zong?

A : The core product of Zong is their basic cellular service ( Call provider).

What is the competitive advantage of Zong or its fundamental unique selling /enhancing
service?
A : Its competitive advantage consists of its data package and device.

What is the Pricing strategy employed by Zong?

Pricing: Zong followed market norm to start with, so had competitive pricing greatly.
Since it was the 5th entrant in market it lowered its price lower than all its competitors
which led to overall lower prices in the market. This led to a larger customer base but
lower profit margins and revenue generation.

Q: Whats your differentiation strategy?

Ans: Zong allows its users to convert to postpaid from retailer, moreover it provides 4G
Data services which are the best in the whole of Pakistan .

Q.How do/did you select your target market?

Ans: According to demographics, initially we targeted low income customers SEC C
and D of the Income generating section. Zong initially achieved this by giving away
cheaper sims of around 50/60 rupees at a time when a normal sim of any other
telecommunication company cost atleast Rs 250 to 300. This action dramatically

43
increased our customer base but lowered our over all revenue generation. We are
currently trying to revamp our target strategy and shifting our focus to catering to the
SEC B and SEC C class (Demographically) and developing a new strategy based on
psychographics , Lifestyle etc in order to increase our revenue generation per customer.

Q. Tell us about your distribution channel.

Selective and big franchises are chosen only for the distribution of golden numbers, large
retail stores are given the biometric fingerprint detector through which the customers
identification is verified and the Zong Sim is consequently sold to the consumer.
And easy load service is given to small retailers; a routine check is done per month in
order to ensure the smooth running and sale of Zong Sims, cards and usbs at these
respective outlets.

Q: How have your promotional strategies changed over the last 8 years?
Ans: In the beginning, there were only small banners on road sides and walls in the
northern areas and limited tvc's. But with expansion and growth of budget we have
developed some great strategies that include our cooperation with the universal cinema to
be opened in Emporium mall in Lahore. More over Zong has the biggest promotion
banner on centaurs building (Islamabad). Also we have moved away from promotions on
walls in the Northern Area of Pakistan to proper Bill boards. We have also doubled the
used of different promotional mediums such as billboards, magazine ads and TVCs all
over Pakistan .

44

Q: Describe your process for the service?

A: To get a sim, customer goes to retailer who is authorized by zong. A bio metric
verification system (Thumbprint) has to be used in order activate the sim; upon usage if
the customer has a complaint about signals etc., our engineering team personally visits
the site to look in the respective issue. E.g once there was complaint from a local jail
about signals reaching out so our engineering team personally went and fixed it. (Jammed
the signals). Moreover there are different specialized centers spread over all of Pakistan,
that are connect to the Zong complaint/ service issue helpline through which the customer
queries/ service failures are listened to and addressed within a time period of 2 working
days.

Q: Has Zong encountered any major service failure in the recent years?
Ans: Yes. During the initial launch of Zong, there were few signal towers that were
widely dispersed. Therefore when a large number of customers started using

our

network, there was a significant signal issue. The small number of towers that covered
long distances couldnt adequately serve the number of customers that Zong had so
quickly acquired (As it was the cheapest in the market). This led to the wide complaint
of consumers that there are voice problems on call which led to a general perception that
Zong is cheap but provides low quality service.

Q: Can you describe exactly how you have tried to change that perception?

45
There are several methods through which we are trying to change this negative
perception about Zong and increase our profit margins in the current market situation.
It has started changing its perceptual positioning by focusing on SEC B and C instead of
C and D ( This group has more disposal income ) moreover Zong has started to select the
target market and make respective marketing / promotional strategies accord to the
attractive psychographic and behavioral characteristics of SEC B.

It is currently trying to Revamp its Brand, to develop its brand image as a higher quality
premium telecommunications service provider E.g Zongs logo and over all all trade
colours have been changed from yellow red and blue to Pinkish Purple and Green which
signify the energy, and the shift to targeting youth and the younger middle/ middle upper
class consumers. Relationship marketing is employed in billboards/ Magazine Ads and
TVCs.

Zong has also started using a 4G-tour bus.

By using some new promotional tools such as focusing on youth experience as our 4g bus
takes a tour of universities during day time where students can come in bus and use free
4g service to get familiar with our quality of service. Sims can also be bought in the bus.
Hence there is brand awareness in different universities. This bus also goes to markets at
night in order to create a unique positive experience for its prospective consumers and
change the developed perception of the target market/ existing consumers.

Q: Can you think of any other services failure and how did you deal with it (Recovery)?

46
Ans: We promoted a poster in shops where a girl was blowing a kiss in the air to which
shopkeepers complained that it was unethical. So we had to persuade them regarding the
idea behind our poster. Furthermore we made a point to keep in mind the sensitivity of all
our stakeholders (Internal and external) and vowed to not repeat such content again.

Q: Can you describe the reasons behind change in colors of Zong?

Ans: New colours like green white purple define youth, as its our major target market and
its also done to change our initial perception.
Q: Describe your customer feedback system?
Ans: Customer compliants are recorded and categorized according to problem.
Q: What are the facilitating services provided by zong?
Ans: We have better and more tower than competitors. In areas with less coverage towers
with competitors can be swapped too and since one tower costs around 5-6 crore.. places
where there is sufficient customer base is the tower installed

Q: What is the area that is covered by Zong as a telecommunication provider?

A : Zong covers the whole of Pakistan as a telecommunication provider.

Q: What is the general level of education for your employees?

Ans: A minimum bachelors degree is required, but masters is preferred.
Whereas at call centers bachelors degree is not essential, however a basic know how of
the technical software and education till at least 8 th grade is compulsory. I personally

47
know one of the employees at the Zong Call center. She (the employee) was completing
her Bachelors while doing the job, however after some time she left dropped out of her
university. In Call centers only software training is required and good spoken skills.

Q: Are there any workshops for employees in Zong?

Ans: There are several training seminars that take place though out the year, however
generally there is a 3-4 month gap between each training seminar.

Q: How are the GTO's or lower level managers trained?

Ans:Instead of a separate training program, there is On-the-Job training or Mentorship,
more over there is job rotation initially. During the first month, GTO visits every
department 1 week to get exposure and insight of how organization functions.
Q: What types of fringe benefits are available for employees in order to retain them or
keep them motivated?
Ans: There is free internet (6GB) for employees with 1000 off net minutes and unlimited
on net minutes. The fringe benefits depend/ vary accord to the level of your employment
Meanwhile there is share of bonus from profits on a quarterly basis for Zong employees.
They also offer free pick and drop services for their female employees.
Q: How many leaves/ off days are allowed?
Ans: 10 sick leaves and 10 casual leaves (20 annually). The thing I like about Zong is that
these leaves if not used up are carried forward to the next year, so an employee can
accumulate them easily.

48
Q: How do you maintain your relationship ship with your customers and maintain their
loyalty?
Ans: We maintain a topnotch consumer database system. The Customers are sent sms
regularly for latest promotional offers, and sent appropriate messages on special
occasions such as Eid. The CSC caters effectively and efficiently to customer complaints
which mainly constitute of regarding recharge problems.