It’s only 3 months since BigTV was launched and it already has 1 million subscribers. From using a very good ad initiative to leveraging Airtel DTH’s teaser ads, BigTV has done it all. 1 million subscribers in 90 days is no small feat.
To put things in to perspective DishTV has recently crossed 4.4 million subscribers and has 53% market share. DishTV is the first to offer DTH services in India. Tata Sky comes second. With 15% market share already Reliance is surging towards the top.
How exactly did Reliance do this? If there is one principle in economics that Reliance likes, it is ‘economies of scale’. It always works for Reliance. Along with using its own retail outlets tt has given the distribution to 3rd party vendors (1 lakh retail outlets disbursing BigTV’s) and did that on a massive scale.
The other thing that Reliance did is the pricing. BigTV provides the same number of channels for less money. There is one time payment of 2000+ which is valid for a year. No other charges. After one year, the monthly rental will come to 120+ rupees. This varies on the type of subscription you take but it is much less than the competition.
Airtel on the other hand was slow in rolling out their operations and did not provide any value in pricing. Their value packs are expensive and there is a installation charge. Having got the taste of Reliance, consumers did not take Airtel DTH very well.
So, What worked for BigTV and Reliance :Â
- Speed of execution (sense of urgency)
- Economies of scale
- Undercutting the price and thus employing a Blue Ocean Strategy
Will Reliance BigTV be a case study for our management students who have gave CAT?