How Jio Became a Synonym for the Internet.
- Communication Service
The Indian telecom industry is an ever-growing industry that has seen numerous major reforms ever since its inception. The Indian economy relies heavily on the telecom industry and it is evident from the fact that the number of mobile phones in our country cross the billion mark. Smartphone users have grown rapidly in the last few years in the country and that can be credited to several reasons which will be discussed further.
India is the world’s second-largest telecommunication market, falling just behind China. It has experienced a surge in the last decade and the future trend continues to showcase prosperity. A well-structured telecom industry enables the country to step on the path of success and connectivity. The Indian Telecom industry generated a revenue of Rs. 68,228 crores in the third quarter of the financial year 2021.
India is the home to several telecom providers, but one name always stands out, ‘Jio’. Jio was established in the year 2016 and has never looked back, every day brings in a bunch of new customers for the company, it is a notable fact that a huge portion of Jio’s customers have migrated out of other providers. Where did the idea of Jio come from?
What strategies did Jio use?
What caused a massive spike in Jio’s customer base?
Let’s find out.
Company’s Timeline:
December 28, 2015
Reliance initiated the testing of the 4G network via its employees and their families.
September 5, 2016
Reliance Jio was officially launched and it commenced its commercial operations. Reliance offered 3 months of free service to please the masses and further extended it by 3 months on its completion.
(Image: https://www.coai.com/)
April 2017
After the completion of 6 months of free service, Jio launched paid plans for its network and introduced prime membership (Mandatory) for 99₹ annually.
June 2017
Within a period of 9 months, Jio gathered a user base of 200 million.
July 2017
The JioPhone was launched at the AGM, it was aimed at tier 2 and tier 3 cities. It became an instant hit amongst the masses.
(Image: https://kalingatv.com/)
July 2018
After the tremendous success of the JioPhone, Reliance launched JioPhone 2 which featured a QWERTY keypad, aimed to bring convenience while typing and posting.
October 2018
Jiophone registered a sale of over 60 million units.
Jio acquires Hathway.
November 2018
Reliance Jio takes over as the service provider for Indian Railways from January 1, 2019.
August 2019
Reliance enters an alliance with Microsoft to accelerate digital transformation in India.
Jio launches JioFiber across 1600 cities in the country.
April 2020
Facebook invests ₹43,574 Crore in exchange for a 9.99% stake in Jio platforms.
(Image: https://blog.ipleaders.in/)
July 2020
Google ₹33,737 Crore in Jio Platforms for a stake of 7.73%.
(Image: https://telecomtalk.info/)
The story behind Jio’s origin.
Mukesh Ambani gives the credit to his daughter, Isha Ambani. In the year 2012, when Isha who was a student of Yale University (USA) came home back to Mumbai, she complained about the internet connectivity in her house. She stated “Dad, the internet in our house sucks” which led to the idea behind launching Jio and enabling everyone to get access to stable and affordable internet.
What strategies did Jio use?
Jio offered its service free of any cost for a period of 3 months in the initial stages, which enabled it to gather a large number of users that either wanted to experience the 4G services that Jio boasted about or just reap the benefits of free service.
Customer Acquisition - Jio offered 3 months of free services in the initial stages, they further extended it by 3 more months, hence they offered 6 months of free service and attained a customer base of more than 50 million subscribers in a record time of 83 days.
First-Mover Advantage - Jio was the first network to offer 4G LTE and Volte services. It enabled Jio to enter a market without prior competition in that particular service. When a company offers something for the very first time, customers have no other reference to compare it with.
Price Penetration - Jio resorted to the price penetration strategy to attract a wide range of customers and also simultaneously force the competitors to either reduce their prices or exit the market. Jio slashed the prices by 1/10th of the ongoing price which took the market by storm.
Referral - Jio used the referral strategy for increasing the customer base of JioFiber. Jio apart from a free trial, offers extensive benefits on the referral of Jio Fiber. The benefits are for both the parties involved. This assures an expansion in the customer base.
Clever Marketing - Jio employs an efficient team of digital markets that often indulge in friendly banter with rival companies. This helps the brand raise awareness and gather attention.
In this example, Jio uses the distinctive red brand color of ‘Airtel’ and indulges into wordplay by using ‘Air toll’ which rhymes with Airtel.
Jio’s future plans
Super App: Jio plans to launch a ‘super app’. The term ’Super app’ is borrowed from China, where ‘We Chat’ functions as a super app, I.e an app that provides multiple solutions to the user. An ‘All-in-one’ approach to apps.
2G Mukt Aim: Jio aims to launch 5G and eradicate 2G from India, Jio believes that 2G is obsolete technology, yet some Indians continue to use it. Jio aims to introduce 5G and make 4G as common as 2G is.
5G Rollout: Jio aims to roll out 5G and replace the existing customers of 4G with 5G. It also aims to implement 5G technology in several other sectors such as Defence, aerospace.
Creating an Android Smartphone: Jio’s recent investor is Google and they plan to manufacture an Android smartphone that will be launched soon. Jio aims to offer it at the lowest cost possible, with the launch of the phone, Jio aims to enable a huge chunk of the population to be 4G or 5G ready.
Integration on Whatsapp: JioMart, which was launched at the beginning of the year already has limited integration on Whatsapp if the speculation is to be believed, after some time a full-blown partnership may result in a mutual benefit to the parties.
JioPay: Jiopay is the Jio UPI ID for initiating and receiving payments which is set to rival the well-established market with competitors such as ‘PayTM’, ‘GPay’, etc. Jio has started the testing and pre-rolling of the JioPay in cities such as Mumbai, Delhi NCR.
JioGlass: JioGlass is Jio’s attempt to bring the future a step closer to us. Jioglass is aimed to enable 3D virtual rooms, that’ll help the teachers and students to enable and participate in 3D virtual classrooms.
Jio entered a market considered impenetrable and established a strong foot in the industry. It was the result of an amalgamation of several accurate and efficient strategies. At every stage of its growth, Jio has managed to always keep the customers happy and have an edge over the competitors. Jio constantly ventures into new sectors and strives to increase the range of its offerings. This mentality enables Jio to retain its existing customer base and constantly add new customers.
Salient Learnings:
Efficient marketing doesn’t imply expensive marketing: Jio differentiated from its competitors in the amount of money spent on advertising. Unlike the ongoing trend, Jio relied heavily on mouth-to-mouth publicity.
Customer Retention: Jio launched ‘Prime Membership’ to retain its customer, customers played a minimal amount of money to gain access to several services and discounted prices.
Ease of Access: Jio offers doorstep sim service, where a customer can book a sim online, and at their convenient time, Jio delivers them the sim.