Vodafone: Managing Innovation in Business - Executive Summary Report

This report provides an executive summary of Vodafone's innovation management within the telecommunications industry. It outlines Vodafone's history, highlighting key milestones such as the establishment in 1982, the launch of 3G and 4G networks, and the expansion of services globally. The report analyzes Vodafone's innovative advertising campaigns, including the use of the ZOO ZOO character and the PUG dog, and their impact on brand recognition and customer acquisition. It explores Vodafone's strategies to increase market share, including affordable prepaid plans and the V by Vodafone platform. The report also examines the company's performance in 2018, including its 5G network plans and the merger with Idea. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of innovation for Vodafone's competitive advantage and future success in the telecommunications market, and how Vodafone is rapidly innovating to meet consumer demands.

MANAGING INNOVATION
IN BUSINESS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The report will describe about the managing innovation in business means how to
organization manage their business through innovative strategy. In this report the selected
company is Vodafone telecom industry and give the information about their innovative products.
Company establish in 1982 their headquarter is united kingdom. In 1993 Vodafone was an open
the 380 stores in different areas. Vodafone has introduced the highest 3 G network. In 2018
Vodafone work on 5 G network services which they provide in worldwide. And then report will
describe the existing innovative performance and capabilities Vodafone uses the different
innovative advertising ideas to promote their product. Vodafone launch their 3 G services with
the help of ZOO ZOO character. Also, launch the 4 G network through advertising with the
“PUG(DOG)” which is told about that our service is follows you and customer easily. Vodafone
wants to increase their business in Asian market. Vodafone has also provided the different
prepaid plan to their customer on very low price. V by Vodafone is launch by the company that
is directly connected with customer smart phones. Report will present the organizations present
innovation and capabilities. Vodafone is engaged in producing various innovative plans for their
consumers in order to attract them.Vodafone has also introduced two new plans for affordable
price of 549 is provided the unlimited data of 3.5GB and 799 provide the unlimited data of
4.5GB etc to compete with the Reliance Jio and company will also introduce the three product
V- SOS Band, V- KIDS Watch, V- HOME in 2018 these all three devices is help for the
customer on daily basis. And end of the report will conclude how the business increase their
profitability by the innovation that means the innovation is help to Vodafone for increasing their
productivity and market share. Vodafone is also doing the innovation rapidly so they can easily
compete with their rivals because customer wants the best services and Vodafone provide the
best services to their customer. Idea or Vodafone merger is approved in July 2018 merger got
approved by the department of telecommunication. The merger is completed in 31 august 2018
by the permission of company law tribunal in 2018 company announce that they launch the 5 G

network to their customer in 2019 So the report will define that innovation is important part of
the business for succession
Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
The organization and innovation history ....................................................................................4
existing innovation performance and capabilities ......................................................................5
Vodafone in 2018......................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Innovation is the process of evaluating the new idea and implement the thought to
achieve the success. (Bonakdar,2015). The report will describe the information about telecom
industry (VODAFONE). Vodafone is the public limited company which is the largest
telecommunication company in the world. The Company has establish in 1982 and
headquartered at United Kingdom. They provide their service in Asia, Africa, Europe and
Oceania. Study lays emphasis on the brief innovation history of Vodafone. The main purpose of
report is to highlight the organizations existing innovation, performance and capabilities. The
purpose of this report is how to increase the growth of the organization through different
innovation and manage the business activities to generate the ideas which is help to company
long term profitability. It will also present the condition of industry in year 2018.
MAIN BODY
The organization and innovation history
Innovation history:
Vodafone is British multinational company. They have a network in 25 countries. The
company product is fixed line telephone, mobile phone, broadband, digital television, internet
television etc. Vodafone was established in 1982 as a joint venture between electronic company
and telecom company and then occupied a licence of mobile phone after the joint venture with
electronic company. They have generated the first mobile licence in the industry in year 1987.
Vodafone is the biggest telecommunication company in worldwide. Starting product is voice and
data services, recall, voice mail services and first information lines is AA road watch, financial
time city line. Company can cover the 80% of network in the country they promote the
“vodapage”. And 20% of Vodafone shares is offered in the market for public by the rascal
electronic firm. Since 1999 company can move in other country and also increase their network
and 1991 rascal and Vodafone is two separate company and they de-merge or doing work
separately. And the Vodafone is separately listed in London and new york stock exchange (De
Stefani,2015). Vodafone is first launch the international roaming call. In 1993 Vodafone was an
open the 380 stores in different areas (Vodafone annual report, 2018). Comet is a high street
retailer and Vodafone make the distribution agreement with the retailer to increase their
distribution channels. Vodafone also built up the international partnership with the Germany,

South Africa, Australia, Fiji and Greece. So these collaborations has helped Vodafone to increase
the international market and get licence. In 1994 the Vodafone launch the data fax or text and
other digital services. In 1997 organization can go global company was introduce the 'pay as you
go talk' and also provide different digital services. And also buy the New Zealand GSM network.
Vodafone increase their customer base on millions and they provide the Verizon wireless
launches (Vodafone annual report, 2018). Vodafone has launched the highest 3 G networks and
is also been engaged in creating the Global star satellite communications service. Vodafone
innovates the first instant messaging services (Ozeren, Saatcioglu and Aydin, 2018). Vodafone
also doing social work they launch the water sensor tank connected with the Vodafone SIM they
can monitor the water level remotely and SMS are sent automatically when the tank is fool than
they collect the water and send to the farmers they supply the water to the farmer. Also, they can
promote the Vodafone through innovative idea call 'zoo zoo' which is a very different character
launched by the Vodafone. It has helped Vodafone to establish an unique image in the market.
Vodafone launch their tag line to attract the customer “whenever you go our network follows”
Recently in 2018 Vodafone work on 5 G network services provide the worldwide.
Existing innovation performance and capabilities
Vodafone is embracing and driving innovations in the wide range of areas through the
current market and the current changes in the online space.
Innovative advertising ideas –“ZOO ZOO” is the advertisement pool this is small robot
which has a white body of balloons and head is like egg. Vodafone has launched their 3 G
services with help of this character. Vodafone has created a 30 series of advertisement. And they
can celebrate the successful 10 years of IPL with the help of zoo zoo. And the performance of
company is increase demand of the product (Morabito, 2016). These features has supported firm
in establishing a unique image in market and enhance their consumer base. Unique advertising
campaigns has also assisted in attracting large range of customers. This has helped them in
gaining competitive advantage. Due to unique advertisement campaign the public response is
very high. The advertisement is liked by most of the public and also people can share their views
related to advertisement on social media platform such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in. And this
advertisement strategy has capability to enhance the 3 G services in all over the world. The
company has launched the new advertising with the “PUG(DOG)” which presents that the

Vodafone services is available in all area and for easy use of customer. The ads on TV that
showed pug in it, has increased the consumer attention. Advertisement shown by Vodafone
presents different scenario where A small girl on a school cab and she forgot their tie and
suddenly next shot is the dog which ran behind the cab with the tie. Advertisement was liked by
general public and has also provided the different brand name to the company. So all these
innovative idea has increased the customer of Vodafone and because of this they won the first
award of PETA(People for the ethical treatment of animal).
Vodafone has increased their brand value by providing innovative and creative products. Brand
value has been increased with innovative advertising campaign. Pug advertisement told about
the good data or high speed of network, they have also launched 4 G services. Company make
use of innovative tag line is' wherever you go our network is follows' so these help to attract the
customer and increase the demand of product. So 4 G data service has supported Vodafone in
order to increase the customer base has adopted various new and innovative strategies like they
are providing internet data services on lower amount. Organizations fast data services has
satisfied consumers a lot. (Yang, Li and Su, 2018). So this has helped company in increasing
their performance. They have increased their global presence.
Vodafone recharge plan- Vodafone wants to increase their product in Asian market as
India is a very big country so market for mobile is huge. Expanding over there will help them in
enhancing their consumer base. Vodafone offers the different prepaid internet plan to their
customer on affordable price. They also offer unlimited talk time to their consumer. They also
introduced the Rs 99 plan for their customer of Asian market. Company also provides facilities
the unlimited local & STD calls. Vodafone also introduce two new plans of pound 549 that
provides the unlimited data of 3.5 GB and 799 provide the unlimited data of 4.5 GB etc to
compete with the Reliance Jio and Airtel. So company has gain competitive advantage because
of it. These innovative plans and steps has supported company in enhancing their market share
and increasing their global presence. This has increase their performance and also enhanced their
operating profit which is 15.4% to 4.3 billion dollar. Profit for the year is 2.8 billion dollar. So
company is to compete with their rivals (Vodafone annual report, 2018). Due to new and
innovative services, organization has been able to gain competitive advantage. It has supported
them to increase their consumer base. Also new and innovative services like low priced internet
data sets has helped Vodafone in attracting more and more consumers that has increased their

profit base. Company can increase the customer loyalty by providing the data services all around
the world. Vodafone is also engaged in using the innovative measures to handle their consumer
aspects. They have made use of various techniques of employee relation.
V by Vodafone- V by Vodafone is launch by the Vodafone that is directly connected with
mobile phone. This app running in smart phones and controlled by the customer and the app
work in Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. In this, consumer connect with the company through
IOT( internet of things. Various features on the is included the connected car sdongle, v-
camera, hd camera, v- bag location tracker, pet location tracker, activity tracker etc. which helps
consumer to connect to the company through this app. So the demand of the application increase
and Vodafone expand their business in international country. Their innovative product has
helped the customer on daily life and also helped them for tracking location. Company enhance
their technology and this help for their future growth. IOT strategy build the consumer
satisfaction that means company build their track record. Vodafone group recently operates a 59
million IOT connection that has increased the company net worth. Vodafone UK has launched a
microsite, Vodafone Labs, to showcase the company's latest technological innovations and act as
a platform for attracting new talent to the telecom company’s digital team. Visitors to the
Vodafone Labs site can explore cutting-edge Vodafone initiatives including TOBi, the first live

chatbot in UK telecoms, and new voice authentication services which are being tested using
Amazon’s Alexa. For prospective candidates, the site offers an introduction to the digital team,
alongside details of current vacancies.
Industry in 2018
Telecommunication industry in 2018
It is not just the way that networks will be created that will take on a different complexion in
2018, but also who is responsible for building them. With an ever-increasing demand for
connectivity, network infrastructures require higher resiliency and improved diversity. In
November 2017, Vodafone and CityFibre announced a long-term strategic partnership to bring
ultrafast Gigabit-capable full fibre broadband to up to five million UK homes and businesses by
2025. The UK government recently rejected Openreach’s voluntary offer to deliver the proposed
10 Mbps minimum broadband network due, in part, to other providers who were prepared to start
legal action to prevent further monopolization from BT. This goes to highlight the increase in
joint ventures that we will see in the UK in 2018 with the aim of solving key challenges relating
to the digital economy (Telecommunication industry, 2018). Rural broadband initiatives are one
such driver of this change. In 2018, SSE Enterprise Telecoms is committed to ’unbundling’
additional BT exchanges in prime business areas around the UK to deliver high-performance
connectivity services. This will result in a significant increase on the third phase of SSE
Enterprise Telecoms’ Project Edge from 2017, and will increase the total number of exchanges
served by its national fibre optic network to serve more business postcodes. 2018 was the year in
which telecommunication industry has adopted SD- WAN. Also there has been a continuous rise
in the utilization of cloud based services and applications because of which the use of technology
like SD-WAN is growing. In 2018 it will move to the mainstream because enterprises are
increasingly encountering difficulties in operating performance due to ageing legacy software,
and the lesser security capabilities and higher price points of those legacy systems. Tele-
communication sector in the year 2018, in United Kingdom has faced a boom faced. Many
organizations like Virgin Group, British Tele-communication has earn profit in the year. Also the
industry is making use of higher resilience and improved diversity for network infrastructure.
(Gustafsson, 2016).

CONCLUSION
The report has been concluded that the various innovations adopted by company such as
launching of micro-site which has assisted them in showcasing the firm’s latest innovations. It
has helped them in attracting new talent and to their digital team. Also reports presents the
present performance capabilities of organization that showed the firm has been able to gain
competitive advantage because of the new innovative data plans. They have made use of the
innovative tag lines which has supported them in gaining competitive advantage. Also enterprise
for attracting consumers has provided them with the low priced data plan.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bonakdar, A., 2015. Business model innovation. PhD diss., University of St. Gallen.
De Stefani, S., 2015. Why did Apple change its strategy? The case of the iPhone: adoption of a
new technology and trade-in programs in the context of innovation (Bachelor's thesis,
Università Ca'Foscari Venezia).
Frempong, A.A., 2015. Brand Quality Perceptions and Preferences in the Telecoms Industry in
Ghana Insights from Mtn, Vodafone and Tigo (Doctoral dissertation, University of
Ghana).
Gustafsson, A., and et.al., 2016. Service innovation. Business Expert Press.
Hare, P.W., 2015. Making Diplomacy Work: Intelligent Innovation for the Modern World. CQ
Press.
Layton, R., 2016. Test of the FCC’s Virtuous Circle: Preliminary Results for Edge Provider
Innovation and BIAS Provider Investment by Country with Hard Versus Soft Rules. In
Net Neutrality Compendium (pp. 157-182). Springer, Cham.
Morabito, V., 2016. The future of digital business innovation: Trends and practices. Springer.
Ozeren, E., Saatcioglu, O.Y. and Aydin, E., 2018. Creating social value through orchestration
processes in innovation networks: The case of “Garbage Ladies” as a social
entrepreneurial venture. Journal of Organizational Change Management. 31(5).
pp.1206-1224.
Yang, Y., Li, Z. and Su, Y., 2018. The Effectiveness of Service Innovation Practices to Reduce
Energy Consumption Based on Adaptive Theory. Sustainability. 10(9). p.3317.
Online
Vodafone in merger talks with idea cellular. 2017. [Online]. Available
through.<https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/news/vodafone-in-merger-talks-with-
idea-cellular-696171-313463.html>.

Vodafone annual report. 2018. [Online]. Available through.<
https://www.vodafone.com/content/annualreport/annual_report18/index.html>
Telecommunication industry. 2018. [Online]. Available through.<
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/united-kingdom-telecoms-market-report-
2018-analysis-and-forecasts-2005-2025---revenues-investment-and-infrastructure-
details-are-covered-300628239.html>