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By Ms. SUNEE ROJANAOLARNRAT

With more than 20 million subscribers, 88% of whom are prepaid, Advanced Info Service Plc. (AIS) is Thailand's largest mobile operator. Among its various value-added services (VAS), the RBT package - Calling Melody - is undoubtedly a major contributor to VAS revenue. Last year, the service's 6 million customers downloaded 18 million files, and subscribers number is enjoying double digit growth each year. Ms. Sunee, the Key Service Marketing Manager for AIS, kindly reveals the runaway success of Calling Melody for us here.


The service & marketing mix

Introduced in 2003 to prepaid customers and one year later to postpaid customers, Calling Melody describes a service that provides a fun means for self-expression, with the key attraction being personalized content.

The integrated marketing mix explains the success of Calling Melody: Product - Fresh content, a huge variety and regular new features; Price - An affordable pricing package, complemented by free content; Channels - Web, WAP, direct content access; IMC (Integrated Marketing Communication) - Campaign continuity and marketing activity.

We now boast more than 15,000 available songs that are updated each week to ensure our selection features not only a huge choice, but also the latest tunes. In addition to music based on type, style and mood, our range is complemented by temporary, themed and seasonal RBTs such as Christmas, New Year, The World Cup, Mother's Day and Father's Day. Integral to our marketing approach is the continual launch of new features in order to keep the product fresh, trendy and relevant.

• Pricing
  
  Pricing is segregated into three payment options:
  
  1. A monthly subscription of THB30 (USD0.9) per month, which has in fact gone on to become the standard industry price for subsequent content introduced to the Thai market. In addition to the monthly download package, customers can also select voice call bundling.
  
  2. Content browsing via IVR at THB5 (USD0.15) per visit. This developed from the per-minute charging mode employed at Calling Melody's inception.
  
  3. A single price for content download at THB15 (USD0.4) per song, which is frequently supplemented by free downloads to stimulate greater user numbers.
  
  
• Customer access channel
  
  IVR*789 was the first channel to be launched and it now accounts for over 50% of total downloads; the second largest channels are Web and Call Center. Our VAS call center provides a robust access channel with more than 300 operators serving customers 24 hours/7 days. Our operators are not only skilled salespeople, but also accomplished singers, often singing a range of songs to aid customer choice - this works particularly well for adults and the elderly who seek convenience and wish to avoid downloading content themselves. Optimizing our sales strategy is our Advanced Sale Club which provides a strong incentive to sell subscriptions.
  
  
• Integrated marketing communication (IMC)
  
  IMC greatly assists the continuous growth of Calling Melody. Our content partners are divided into a number of portfolios with whom we jointly promote our service on a monthly basis. They include partners from various industry areas: Thai pop music, fringe areas, international pop music, and sound effects. This is consolidated by quarterly target marketing and media campaigns designed to raise brand equity and build the product's fashionable, cutting edge image, which is particularly important when focusing on untapped customers, especially those in fringe areas.
  
  AIS has invested heavily in both on and off-line marketing including TV, press, cinema and radio advertisements, leaflets, event based promotions, PR, SMS, IVR push and interact. Our 2005 TV commercial was particularly successful, conveying the message that RBTs promote fun while waiting for a call to be answered, and are a personal way of lifting a caller's mood. Teenagers, the elderly, maids and office workers were used in this commercial to illustrate that the service is designed for everyone. At the end of 2006, our latest commercial featured Calling Gift, in which callers can elect to change a given RBT if it's not to their liking.

New features

We continuously improve the product by enhancing the service and adding new features to keep it fresh and cool.

• IVR arrangement
  
  Our IVR menu *789 has several categories such as domestic pop, Thai folk music, foreign songs, sound effects, house music and a calling station. Each category possesses sub-categories for more detailed searches including, amongst others, hits, new releases and sound tracks. We employ a professional DJ to rank songs in each category and update them on a weekly basis.
  
  We have also implemented the IVR music portal to extend content application to ring tone and full music downloads which enables our strategic partners to further promote the service. Examples include *7551 for download promotion with partner A and *7552 for top 20 hits. Customers can pre-listen to a given song and then select the desired format. Pressing '1' selects ring back tone, '2' provides a ring tone, and '3' gives the full song.
  
  
• Our website
  
  We have recently revamped our website (www.mobilelife.ais.co.th/callingmelody) to enable new customers to download ring tones and the dedicated song service M2G, as well as ring back tones and calling melodies. Flexibility is guaranteed as content can be downloaded in any format, and, in order to fully understand our customers' needs, we closely monitor customer feedback.
  
  
• WAP access
  
  Having launched WAP access at the beginning of this year, the reaction of our customers has been extremely positive, and has encouraged the further development of this access mode. An easy to navigate search engine allows customers to search by song or artist, manage their profile, and download or personalize different songs. The song category and ranking are the same as provided by IVR, and is also updated weekly by our DJ.

In summary

The great success of Calling Melody is largely attributed to its service characteristics since they match the Thai lifestyle in which self-expression is integral. Correct pricing and the simple charging plan enhance the service's attraction, and the wide variety of regularly updated content guarantees mass appeal and continued success. The service's ease of use and various access channels consolidate the service package, and our IMC puts Calling Melody firmly in the public eye which is where we believe it will stay.