The sales and the popularity of a product is intricately affected and shaped by the various macrofactors of the society. It is due the understanding of these macrofactors and the abiding nature of the brands that constitute a successful business by strategically moulding its plans. The major components of macrofactors are technology, the political scenario, legalities, economic scenario and social factors.
In the present, it is almost impossible to think of connectivity without stumbling upon the brainchild of Mukhesh Ambani, Jio. Jio had the fastest acquisition of customers in its days of inception, 100 million within three and a half months approximately.
Ambani was able to delve deep into the necessities of the Indian customers and most of their financial statuses and their mindset. It just has been 4 years since Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited came into existence under the umbrella of the Reliance Industries, in spite of which, has made a prominent name for itself.
The most important factor that gave it a distinct name was the fact that Jio was declared to be availed for free of cost for the first 3-6 months of purchasing it. This was a great marketing strategy, keeping in mind that India is still a developing nation, the average financial status of the larger chunk of the people is considerably low. According to a report published by Tim Worstall in 2015, over 79.53 percent of the households earn lesser than 5000 rupees per month. Therefore, the economic conditions in the nation had urged the company to take such a decision. It continues to offer customers the cheapest of packages that includes free voice call, free text messaging and 4 GB of internet (per day) for a month at a cost of 510 rupees only. Bharti Airtel has a better offer when compared to Jio as they provide free calls, free text messaging for 3 months at the cost of 448 rupees, however, they provide only 1 GB of internet per day. This brings us to the next important macrofactor.
Like other nations, India has been highly affected by the raging usage of internet and technology. Nowadays, one may not find lights on the streets but each family does possess a mobile phone and needless to say with internet connection in it. This macrofactor had influenced the company for providing internet, better and faster than its competitors. It uses the 4G VoLTE technology which is considered to be the swiftest of the lot. The possibilities of 5G and 6G speed connections can also be supported on this technology.
Jio has had its fair share of rivals. However, certain legal factors have made Reliance take steps that worked in their favour. Bharti Airtel, Tata conglomerate and other such services felt threatened due to Reliance’s expanding business. As a result, Vodafone merged with Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel bought the assets of the Tata Conglomerate and Norway’s Telenor. Anil Ambani’s futile effort of buying Aircel’s assets was taken over my Mukesh Ambani who not only grabbed the assets of RCom but also telecom towers and fibre optic network as well as 50 percent of its mobile spectrum. This gave the company an edge over every other contestant.
Mukesh Ambani, the wealthiest individual of India, came up with the idea of Jio sim and services at a time coinciding with the election of Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India. Modi had given the fullest opportunity to Reliance to carry out his vision of “Digital India”. Ambani partnered with the Government itself and had pledged to contribute 250,000 rupees for carrying out the operation. “I estimate that Reliance’s Digital India investments will create employment for over five lakh people,” was his statement. On the other hand, Narendra Modi was featured in the newspapers like Times of India and The Hindustan Times with the logo of Jio. Other political parties like AAP condemned the government for assisting Ambani as Kejriwal claimed, “Modiji Ambani ke jeb mein hain” (or, Modi resides in the pocket of Ambani). Therefore, the political aspect of a macrofactor is quite evident. The company is profiting much more than it had invested in the venture.
Last but not the least, the social aspect matters when it comes to advertising for the brand or the product. Indian audience is much influenced by the striking personalities of the stars and their stardom. Therefore, it is the easiest form of advertisement (provided the product is heavily funded) to appoint some Bollywood biggie and give them the contract. In this case, Jio had gone for the ‘Badshaah’ of Bollywood, as they call him, for promoting the Jio sims with the slogan of “Come on India. Jio Digital Life”. Besides these, Jio slips into sponsoring huge events like the IPL which bags them a hefty scale of advertising.
As a conclusion, it is crystal clear that the macrofactors in the society have steadily and remarkably affected how the brands interact with the audience and carve their methodology of action.
Sources:
https://www.marketing91.com/swot-analysis-of-reliance-jio/
https://www.ft.com/content/3f1fe4d6-e4e0-11e7-a685-5634466a6915
https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/government-helping-reliance-jio-monopolise-telecom
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