Vodafone unveils unique faster smarter and better branding on the Shatabdi Express

From : NewsTrack India

 

The next time you take a train ride to Mumbai be prepared to witness Vodafone Gujarat's latest innovation in branding on the popular rail lifeline, the Shatabdi Express connecting Gujarat with Mumbai. Vodafone Gujarat in collaboration with Indian Railways has for the first time in India done a complete train wrap of all 14 coaches of the Ahmedabad -Mumbai Shatabdi Express.

The newly Vodafone branded Shatabdi Express was formally unveiled today by a Vodafone Zoozoo in the presence of Brajesh Bajpai, Business Head - Gujarat, Vodafone India, at Ahmedabad Railway Station. This branding initiative aims to promote Vodafone's high speed 3G data network, fastest 3G Dongle that provides data transfer speed up to 21.1Mbps and 3G mobile internet capabilities which include free data roaming for Vodafone Gujarat customers travelling to any part of India.

Through this initiative, Vodafone seeks to get closer to and engage with commuters through the entire route between Ahmedabad and Mumbai Central. Vodafone is the first brand in the state to come up with such an innovative concept linking branding and customer engagement at a popular public outpost.

Speaking about this endeavor Brajesh Bajpai, Business Head Gujarat, Vodafone India said, "A continued focus on innovative and relevant products and best in class customer service are the hallmark of Vodafone's business in Gujarat. We are extremely proud to unveil the branded Shatabdi, as one more testimony to Vodafone's continued efforts to innovate and go beyond the ordinary to engage with our valued customers. It is a great platform to get our message across to an estimated 300,000 eye-balls each day along its route.

We found great synergy between Shatabdi's association with Speed and Vodafone's Faster, Smarter, Better positioning for our 3G service offering. Thousands of our customers who travel to Mumbai can enjoy continued connectivity, stay informed and entertained through the duration of their journey on the super-fast Shatabdi Express, with Vodafone's reliable, high speed and competitively priced 3G Mobile Internet packs."

Shatabdi Express Par Vodafone Ki Branding

Shatabdi Express: The fastest train in India & Vodafone 3G: The faster, smarter, better 3G mobile network in India. 

From : The Rajasthan Patrika

Aditi Rao Hydari dazzles garba revelers in Ahmedabad

From Times of India


Dhwani Shah (Vadodara), Ashish Doshi (director, ticketplease.com), actor Aditi Rao Hydari, Brajesh Bajpai (business head—Gujarat, Vodafone India)

The celebratory cheers this Navratri got a roaring thumbs up from the garba revelers this year. For this Navratri, Vodafone's 'Become a Star with Vodafone Mobile Internet' contest that aimed at adding joy to customers' excitement for the longest dance festival in the world has proven to be yet another unique initiative for customer connect.

The contest witnessed an overwhelming response from customers in Gujarat. On the eighth day of Navratri, Vodafone felicitated 10 lucky winners of the contest and the announcement of winners became more exciting with the presence of Bollywood diva Aditi Rao Hydari. The 10 lucky winners of the contest got once in a life time opportunity to live the life of a 'star' including red carpet welcome to stay at a luxury hotel.

Commenting on Vodafone's innovative data strategy for Gujarat, Brajesh Bajpai, business head — Gujarat, Vodafone India said, "Data is foreseen as the next big thing for the telecom industry in India and the growing number of data enabled smartphones will certainly increase the demand for mobile internet. We see immense growth potential and are looking to be an integral part of this opportunity by helping accelerate mobile internet adoption through penetration, consumption and value addition. We constantly come up with unique campaigns and exciting offers, to drive data adoption. Navratri is an important festival for us as part of our marketing and customer engagement activities. As an undisputed market leader in Gujarat, we constantly aim to stay connected with our large base of customers in Gujarat and this Navratri also we came up with this interesting contest that was well appreciated by our customers."

All in all this was a glam studded evening which saw high octane festive fervour at its best during the Ban Jao Star with Vodafone mobile internet contest.

Garba venues escape slump wrath in Ahmedabad

From DNA 


Scared of negative sentiment, slowdown and inclement weather, Navratri organisers were almost down and out. Suddenly, telecom companies, which had been silent on this nine-day festival for the last two years, stepped up as saviour for the organisers of garba nights beginning Saturday.

Since 2008, the garba organisers have been complaining of difficulties in getting sponsorships.

But, every year, they somehow managed to get sponsorships either through branding or barter system. This year, too, the trend is pretty much the same.

“Like every year, even this year, it was difficult for us to attract sponsors till Saturday,” said Jaydeep Mehta, director of True Events. “After two years, the telecom is back again. Not only the telecom operators. Even the mobile phone companies have shown interest. Not the big companies, the domestic brands,” he said.

Every year, the garba organisers keep two associate sponsors and four co-sponsors, said Mehta.

“Owing to the slowdown, the sponsors have slashed their budget. In that case, we have got four associate sponsors and eight co-sponsor instead of two. This fulfils our motive,” he said.

Companies have budgets earmarked for events. But they want to get maximum mileage out of it, said Arvind Singh, the business head of Expertz. While Shiv Corporation is organising garba nights at Rajpath Club, Expertz is conceptualising them.

“Our cost of organising such events has increased with revenue being 50% of the total cost.

Suddenly, telecom has become the saviour. Now, we hope not to incur losses this year,” said Singh.

The telecom sector has increased its scale of spending this year compared to the previous year, said Brajesh Bajpai, the Gujarat business head of Vodafone.

“Navratri is an important festival for us as part of our marketing and customer engagement activities. Being the undisputed market leader in Gujarat, we constantly aim to stay connected with our large customer base in Gujarat and this Navratri, too, we have allocated strong resources for the event. Our scale of activity is actually much larger and wider than last year whereas the budget allocation is similar to last year,” said Bajpai.

The unexpected rain has also played spoilsport. “A few clients even backed out last week.

Probably in the name of rain, they withdrew their sponsorships. So, we had to manage sponsorships from other groups and companies. And, with the budget having shrunk, we will have to rely more on the sale of tickets instead of bartering of tickets,” said Meghal Shah, a garba organiser and event manager in Ahmedabad.

According to Shah, sponsorship from automobile, finance and education sectors has been minimal. “For automobile, it is like recession. While educational institutes crib about the fall in number of students, finance sector believes that garba events are just not their cup of tea. In such a situation, food and beverages and telecom have helped garba organisers to a great extent,” he said.

Every year, organisers face difficulty in attracting sponsors for the nine-night event, said Anand Doshi, director of Sharda Communications. “With the grace of god, event management companies organise the event. Like every year, it was very difficult to raise money this year, too. But we do it by hook or by crook,” asserted Doshi.

Vodafone bags - Dainik Purvoday's "Best Brand" award for the North East

Dainik Purvoday, the leading Hindi Daily of Northeast, presented the second Northeast Consumer Awards at the state capital on November 12, 2011 to the most preferred brands adjudged by 3000 valid household survey by research agency MaRS across 5 cities of Northeast. The category list this year has increased from 30 last year to 37 to include airlines, watches, apparels, shoes and digital cameras.

Vodafone was selected as Best Brand of the Year. Nokia and Samsung Mobile walked away with the Most Preferred Mobile Phone and Most Preferred Smartphone award respectively.

Governor of Assam Sri J. B. Patnayak and Rajya Sabha MP Bhubaneshwar Kalita gave away the award to Mr Brajesh Bajpai - Business Head (Assam & North East) Vodafone in a colourful function held at D'Royal Auditorio of Royal Group of Institutions in the city.

While appreciating the initiative of Dainik Purvoday group Governor Sri Patnayak said that in future agri-based industries, handicrafts and silk products should also be brought under the purview of these awards. Welcoming the guests the chairman of the Dainik Purvoday Publication Group Sri A. K. Pansari assured that next year the awards will include rural and agri -based products and services also. MP Sri Bhubaneshwar Kalita said that such recognition on a public forum will boost the morale of manufacturers and service providers and incentivise them to improve their products and services. Utpal Kanta, Economic Editor, Dainik Purvoday, said, “As for the recipients, the award not only constitutes the crowning achievement of their efforts, but more importantly it also represents the most valuable reward of all, the knowledge that they have earned the trust and loyalty of consumers.”