PART ONE

1. PART ONE A short history of pre-paid system

2. Pre-paid system evolutionPassing from Connex to Vodafone Connex: A Romanian brand. • It grew in a specific Romanian way and owned a Romanian territory. • Its brand ideology moved from an optimist “The Future sounds right” to an optimistic empowerer “Make your own future” meaning: a personalization and individualization of consumer’s services and suggested a freedom of choice.

3. Pre-paid system evolutionPassing from Connex to Vodafone • Connex developed a very complex strategy for constructing a Pre-Paid specific system. • Existing two Pre-Paid cards: Kamarad and Connex Go! Packages. What did they offer?

4. Pre-paid system evolutionPassing from Connex to Vodafone Ex: Kamarad Pre-Paid card: Choosing a preferred person and talking to him / her with a preferential tariff any moment in the day time. The cost of the package: 12 USD and contained - SIM card, usage guide, Connex Vox card. SIM card had an initial credit of 5 USD. Sending a completed formulary, the client received an added value of 3 USD. Changing strategy: 2004, the two Pre-Paid cards converged in one, Connex Pre-Paid Card.

5. CONNEX: How to perceive Prepaid system? Making communication easier and re-inforcing the socialization Preferential tariffs: to talk to a chosen person and for pre-paid cards users. Christmas promotions: free calls, bonuses and important reductions (50%). Free time: for weekends and evening time, preferential tariffs (2001).

6. CONNEX: How to perceive Prepaid system? Making communication easier and re-enforcing the socialization Rewarding high fidelity: more used in the case for Post-Paid system, this strategy re-enforced Connex’s position as promoting communication and socialization (August 2001). Connex Campus platform: targeting young people, Connex established itself as a brand who takes a great interest in high school and college students (June 2004). Introducing two free services: “Suna-ma!” (“Call me!”) and “Transfera credit!” (“Transfer me credit!”).

7. CONNEX: How to perceive pre-paid system? Promoting SMS • SMS Chat (June 2000). • Launching a manual “The Art of Conversation through SMS” and a competition with important prizes (July 2001). • Competition through SMS for Valentine’s Day (February 2002). • Connex Text promotion: summer 2002, an important reduction for 50% for text messages. • Promotions for text messaging (June 2003).

8. Fun & Entertainment Connex Play (May 2001). Participating to games. Downloading logos, MMS, call tones. Reading daily horoscope. Finding and / or sending new jokes. Accessing chat without their identity to be known. Fun & Entertainment MyX (July 2001): First mobile portal launched in Romania. Accessing useful information. Personal Information Management (PIM): e-mail, agenda, address book, to do list. Re-launching Connex Play! (July 2005) First 3G mobile portal. A new and richer content. Public: 3G and GSM users. Services and applications: music, games, videos, entertainment, sports, news, messages. CONNEX: How to perceive Prepaid system?

9. 1) Network idea and its functioning. 2) Associating Pre-Paid system with communication, socialization and fun & entertainment. 3) Associating the Pre-Paid system card with SMS service (SMS is cheaper, bonuses, reductions, fidelity promotions). 4) Content (fun & games) Specialization of services in function of different types of public (Connex Campus program). First mobile portals: functional information and services, entertainment purpose. 3G technology: converging this technology with those already existing. CONCLUSIONSConstructing Pre-Paid System by Connex

10. CONCLUSIONSConstructing Pre-Paid System by Connex 5) Consumers’ practices and representations: • Emergence of beep as a communicational strategy. • Purchasing mobile phones (due Connex promotions that associated tariffs and mobile phones). • Low prizes at Pre-Paid cards determined a collective representation regarding this system: it is for low-income adults and for young people (teenagers and college students).

11. CONCLUSIONSConstructing Pre-Paid System by Connex • Low reductions for calls and big promotions for SMS: increased SMS frequency and usage. • The convergence of two pre-paid cards (Kamarad and Connex Go!) in one (Connex Card), but with various sub-types determined a bigger personalization of this service. This value has been continuously reinforced by tactical strategies.

12. PART TWO Pre-Paid System Today

13. Market Trends • Actual trends (source: Ziarul Financiar, 4.02.2008): • New entries on Telecom Market: RDS&RCS, Zapp (re-launch); a growing dynamics in this sector. • What will make the difference between the Telecom operators? • Marketing strategies. • PR strategies. • Technological support.

14. Market Trends 3)GSM technology gets to maturity: growing amount of messages and phone calls predicted globally for this year. Predicted effects: • Convergent and complete services (fixed telephony, broadband Internet service, data services). • Better quality (coverage, Internet service). • Increased fidelity programs for users. • Decreasing fixed telephony users.

15. Market Trends Reactions from mobile telephony operators: as the market expectations changed, included minutes and bonuses were supposed to be normal for the others too.

16. Cosmote Launch 2006: Connex-like platform. Its campaign has been very aggressive on three levels: • Very cheap Pre-Paid cards. • Free minutes. • Cheap mobile telephones (basic mobile phones that had only phone call and SMS functionalities) or free cellphones with a pre-paid card and free minutes included.

17. Users of mobile telephony reacted: Changing the current subscription or adding a Cosmote subscription (the last case: to take advantage of the present campaign). Gaining a new category: very low-income people or people whose life dynamics did not integrate mobile telephony have reacted positively to this campaign due to the idea that Cosmote seemed to address to them in an informal way.

18. Competitors on Pre-Paid System • Orange: 2007 - Orange Pre-Pay: 1) Free minutes and SMS in function of recharge amount. • [Conversations slide easily]. • [Talk for hours]. • [Long talk, good gain]. • [To tell your holiday adventures]. 2) Bonuses in function of recharge amount. 3) Retribution system for unused free minutes.

19. Competitors: Orange 4) Keeping consumers motivated: [Use more credit than in November until the 18th of January 2008 and you’re automatically signed in the raffle]. 5) Associating mobile telephony and pre-paid system with low prizes, disposition for socialization and non-constraint communication. 6) Due to the specific promotions (Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Easter etc), Orange has acquired a bigger symbolic capital.

20. Competitors: Cosmote • Cosmote: Pre-Paid SIM Card. • A big variation of offers: national minutes included, SMS, network minutes included. • [Don’t leave him alone, regardless of the network!] – the idea that there is not a difference of costs between networks. • [For smart ideas a matching offer!] • [With whom do you talk to most of all?] – campaign for promoting network idea (encouraging network socialization).

21. Competitors: Cosmote 2) “Contact Me !” service: a campaign for something that Vodafone already had, even with more options than Cosmote’s service. Cosmote explored this option to the maximum and it took advantage by making it more visible.

22. Vodafone Pre-Paid System • Promotions thought in function of season: 2008, spring – [Spring comes, take everybody out of the house]. To get monthly, for life free minutes in network with friends and national minutes. • Loyalty program: [Win for 4 times!] – in function of every tariff plan, there is a different bonus: • Bonus to every recharge. • Bonus for received calls. • Bonus for your anniversary. • Bonus for loyalty.

23. Vodafone Pre-Paid System • Vodafone gifts: the idea of giving to somebody else a gift (SMS and MMS) - four channels (SMS, WAP, WEB, IVR). • Vodafone Campus: 0,01 EUR/minute for calls in Vodafone Campus until 31 July 2008. After 31 July, the old system 50% discount for calls in Vodafone Campus. 0,03 EUR/SMS in Vodafone network. 3 EURO bonus for inscribing in the program.

24. Suggestions for Prepaid Campaign • Making Vodafone live! portal more interactive with the consumer – developing a campaign or a platform. • Specific promotions for anniversaries moments (Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Easter etc). • Exploring added-value services. • A more visible campaign for free services (“Suna-ma!” and “Transfera credit!”). • Promotions for loyalty program: making more visible the existence of four types of bonuses.

25. Research about Prepaid Usage

26. Research and Data50 interviews

27. Findings about Prepaid Card • Research conducted between 2002 – 2005 on young people. • Besides low-income adults, youngsters are the most numerous and continuous users of Pre-Paid System Card (79% from young people interviewed declared to own a prepaid card). • Young people’s economic specificities: • They are not active social actors: they don’t have an income, they still depend on parents’ finances. • They have a monthly / weekly financial income system: parents give them a specific amount of money to be spent that month. From this amount, they spend almost 15% on expenses with their mobile telephone (recharge, changing mobile phones etc).

28. Findings about Prepaid Card 3) Why do they use prepaid card? • The high percent of prepaid subscriptions is a reflection of teens’ and their parents’ concern on unrestricted use of mobile telephone. Even if their parents are not still conscious about this negative phenomenon in mobile telephone use, their motivation for purchasing a prepaid system is that it is cheaper and that they do not afford to support their children’s expenses.

29. Uses of Prepaid Card • Phone calls: in function of their amount on prepaid card, they rationalize very well the use of this functionality. Used specifically for emergencies or to hear the loved person’s voice, phone call remains a complementary mobile telephone functionality.

30. Uses of Prepaid Card • SMS: preferred for various reasons, from which we could outline for types of logics (utilitarian, autonomy, integration and fun). • From a quantitative and qualitative point of view, SMS usage is considerably higher to teenagers than the rest of the prepaid card users (and postpaid system).

31. Conclusions • Pre-Paid market became more and more competitive once Cosmote integrated free minutes, SMS in SIM Card package. • Vodafone’s pre-paid system is not individualized on the market and not very competitive with the existing offers (low bonuses, low reductions, a small number of free minutes – comparing with Cosmote and Orange).

32. Conclusions • Pre-paid system is not specialized in function of different types of public (teenagers, youth, adults etc). • Specific values are not very well explored and promoted (sharing, making gifts, disposition for socialization etc).

33. PART THREE Make the Most of Now in Pre-Paid System

34. That means… • Micro-coordinating daily activities by SMS: With family = functional messages which contain utilitarian information (family routine, informing parents about their location, asking their parents to stay longer somewhere).

35. That means… • Micro-coordinating daily activities by SMS: With friends = functional messages that contain: • Coordinating going-outs (meetings, where, when etc). Ex: “N intalnim azi? Unde si la c ora?” (L., 16). • Lending something. Ex: “Cristina imi dai si mie pana joi caietul tau d rom? Te rog eu mult. Te pupik dulce.” (C., 17). • Asking for something (homework, clothes etc). Ex: “Auzi, eu am uitat sami sterg unghiile. Nu imi aduci si mie acetona, pls, k nu imi place sa stau asa...pls” (A., 17).

36. That means… • Contact through SMS: • Re-establishing contact with a friend or a collegue through SMS: why SMS? Because it functions as a un safe-net for teens, staying apart from any eventual rejection. Ex: “Hello c faci?” (A., 17).

37. That means… • Contact through SMS: 2) Permanent contact: staying in contact with friends through SMS. This value takes two temporal forms: • Play time: sending messages in a fun and entertaining purpose. The difference from what is almost known is the function of entertaining the other person. • Boring time: filling dead moments (in subway, in the bus, during classes).

38. That means… • Time in love message: 1) When do teens send most of love messages? The evening became in a teen couple the institutionalized moment to send this type of SMS.

39. That means… • Time in love message: 2) The answer: the period between receiving the message and answering has to be in the case of love message gradually shorter. Delays are not accepted, only accompanied by very credible excuses.

40. That means also… • When is the good time to answer your phone? • Context: teens spend a lot of time together and receiving a call plunges them to a very complex taking decision process.

41. That means…also • When is the good time to answer your phone? 2) User’s choice will depend on the following factors: • Stage of the relationship. • User’s gender and exteriorization of feelings inside and in front of peer group.