Innovations in Marketing of Telecommunication Products at Onetouch Network Service in Ghana (The Case of Ghana Telecom)

Market conditions are changing more rapidly today than ever. The ability to create, share or exchange ideas and knowledge has made information a very important asset as far as a country is concerned. The telecommunication area seems to be a clear example of a sector where competition has led to greater innovation activity. Although Onetouch has been in the fore-front of innovation in mobile telephony in Ghana, the choice of additional services available and geographic coverage area is low. Therefore the study was undertaken to assess the innovations within the product and promotional strategies of Onetouch service of Ghana Telecom; to evaluate the extent to which product innovations have impact on consumer's buying decision; to identify ways in which Onetouch services can improve upon its marketing innovations to meet the expectations of its customers and to make recommendations to the management of Onetouch network service. Primary and secondary sources of data were used with the help of questionnaires and interview guide. The research design employed was descriptive. The customers, staff and management of Onetouch Service of Ghana Telecom (GT) were sampled through cluster sampling and purposive sampling. Structured interviews were conducted for 2 management members in each of the Care4U centers in Kumasi. Questionnaires were administered to 7 staff in each of the Care4U centers. The four Care4U centers of the Onetouch network service in Kumasi represent four clusters were used to sample customers. The sample for the customers in the study was 384. For each Care4U center, the number of customers administered with questionnaires at Adum was 120, Tanoso - 80, KNUST- 110 and Buokrom- 74. The customers were selected by simple random sample as they entered these Care4U centers. Excel and SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Students) were used for the data analysis to generate graphs and charts. The study revealed that the highest percentage of customers satisfied with the quality of signal of Onetouch was 32.0%. Customers are more satisfied with the quality of service of Onetouch, than the additional services such as Call me back service, SMS, Fone TV and so on. Furthermore, the study indicated that the highest percentage of customers influenced by the promotional offer of the Onetouch services was 39.1%. Hence the purchase decision of customers is influenced by promotional offer. Also customers were very satisfied with the advertisement of Onetouch services, than with the sales promotion of Onetouch services. In addition, the most effective medium of communication which attracted customers to the Onetouch service was TV advertisement and sales promotion. In conclusion, organizations determined to attain a unique position and advantage in the competitive business world today are most likely to realize the importance of delivering high quality service by meeting or exceeding customer's expectations. To gain real competitive advantage, the focus of innovation must be on developing new-to-the world or new-to-the-market products that provide consumers with entirely new perceived benefits. Hence, innovation, if it is properly carried out could be the most powerful competitive weapon.

Source: KNUST