TIM’s strategy is strongly founded on understanding and segmenting its client base. Segmentation allows the Company to provide customer service and offer products and services that meet the needs of our different consumer and business client profiles.
In 2009, the Company’s offering portfolio was completely renewed in order to position TIM as the operator that makes “Plans and Promotions that Revolutionize”. The new portfolio is based on an innovative concept and mechanism in Brazil, such as tariff per call, end of the long-distance barrier and unlimited use, always exploring the concept of TIM community, which has more than 41 million lines in the Country. Two plans were launched – “Infinity” and “Liberty” – in addition to a premium offering called “Da Vinci” for more sophisticated and demanding clients.
As for Infinity plan, the client is billed only for the first minute of each call within our network, while they can speak for an unlimited time, which means that the call is no longer per minute but per call. In the case of Liberty, for a fixed monthly fee, clients may talk for unlimited time with any TIM number, without any restriction on the number and length of calls. The “Da Vinci” plan is a unique offering of unlimited voice and data transmission through mobile phone, accompanied by exclusive customer service and handset portfolio.
TIM also eliminated the distances among its client community to underline its slogan “Você, sem fronteiras”. Calls to any TIM number, whether local or long-distance, have the same cost. National roaming is free in Liberty and Da Vinci plans, and only the first minute is billed in the Infinity plans.
The Infinity plans include the Pré, Controle and Pós plans. In the Infinity Pós plan, clients are billed only one minute for each call to TIM and thus have more minutes at their disposal for calls to any operator. This way, clients pay fewer extra calls from their bundle, and spend less than in a common plan.
For clients that want a plan that combines the convenience of a postpaid plan and the control of a prepaid plan, TIM launched the Infinity Controle plan, which allows clients to talk for unlimited time per call to any TIM in Brazil, with only the first minute being billed.
For clients that do not want a monthly subscription account, TIM offers the prepaid plans, Infinity Pré and Meu Jeito. Thanks to Infinity Pré, clients can talk for unlimited time without worrying about call length.
In addition to its plan portfolio, TIM held several promotional campaigns during the year. For Infinity Pré, it launched a campaign by which any local or long distance call costs just 25 centavos irrespective of the call duration. Promotions were also held to encourage the recharge in the form of a retail campaign – Recarga Imperdível 1 e 2 – and through one-to-one campaigns based on the CRM.
Promotions were launched in the postpaid segment to encourage portability, such as exemption of minutes commitment for three months and the free calls to favorite numbers for one year. Later, the “25 centavos a call” promotion was also launched for Infinity Pós.
Besides the launching of the new portfolio, the Company also announced the “TIM Chip Avulso” offer, by which TIM clients can choose between discounts in the monthly subscription for 18 months, without subsidized handset or a discount in the new handset. The focus is on an innovative offering that gives clients more options, reducing the intermediation of handsets and concentrating on the benefits from the service. Based on this offering, promotions were held throughout Brazil for TIM Liberty and in some States for Infinity 60. To complement the offering, TIM entered into partnerships with credit card operators to offer the facility of payment in up to 12 interest-free installments.
By restructuring these offerings, TIM was able to improve its operating indicators. Sales reached a record 21 million lines in 2009, the new offerings were widely accepted by the market (in less than a year, 50% of the prepaid base is already an Infinity customer) and usage presented a substantial increase (MOU 99 minutes – one of the highest registered). We will continue on the same track in 2010 through innovative launches that stimulate usage, while always maintaining the service quality.
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TIM’s approach for the business segment in 2009 focused differentiation and innovation.
In 2009, TIM’s approach and offering were differentiated and the Company concerned itself with specific needs of each sub-segment in the corporate market as well as with different user profiles within a same company.
TIM migrated from a model of traditional offerings in this segment, with shared minute packages and modular plans, to a groundbreaking concept with plans to suit different user and company profiles.
In June, TIM Único was launched, an innovative voice plan aimed at the small companies segment and self-employed professionals holding a Corporate Taxpayer ID (CNPJ). To that end, we carried out a detailed mapping and research of this segment to identify specific needs. As a result, a plan was created with no minimum minute requirement, with competitive tariffs for any traffic direction, in addition to benefits granted to family members of company owners. As early as in the second month of the plan’s launch, the offering already accounted for more than 60% of the monthly activations, allowing sales in the segment to grow considerably.
TIM was a pioneer, with the launch in July, of the concept “Empresa Simples”, a complete telecommunications solution for the small and medium enterprise (SME) segment. A convergent plan that centralizes mobile, fixed and broadband telephony services in a single account, contact and service point – allowing up to 40% savings in telecommunications expenses. Moreover, in August, the Empresa Simples combo was launched, a package with unlimited internet and fixed telephony for R$99 per month.
In October, TIM launched the offering “Liberty Empresa”, a service that allows unlimited local and long-distance calls with a community of over 41 million TIM users all over Brazil, in addition to free roaming in the whole country for R$39 monthly. This concept allows corporate clients to speak more and pay less, as long as companies’ network community, such as suppliers, customers and employees, migrate to TIM.
The launches in 2009 reflect the strategy that will be followed in 2010: unique and innovative offerings for each Company segment and user profile. A simple portfolio approach enabling corporate clients to speak more, with enhanced quality and increased savings. In this regard, the merger of Intelig by TIM will play an essential role in the strategy of convergent offerings, making TIM even more competitive in this segment.
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TIM’s long distance continued with its strategy for increasing the market share of CSP 41 in its client base and promoting the migration of long distance traffic from fixed operated by other carriers to TIM, maintaining loyalty and valuable client retention programs. So, TIM innovated by incorporating Long Distance to its 2009 main offerings.
With the launch of offerings such as Infinity and Liberty, TIM stimulated LD traffic among its 41 million subscribers, taking advantage of its voice network present in all Brazilian States. Both plans allow users to speak for an unlimited time to any TIM number in the Country by dialing code 41. In the Infinity plan, only the first minute of each call is billed, whereas in the Liberty plan, there is a subscription fee allowing for an unlimited amount of calls.
In addition, TIM carried out several direct marketing actions, promotions for new clients and segmented communication initiatives, such as advertising in airports and material renewing in sales points to stimulate the use of CSP 41.
With reference to International Roaming, TIM also offers Voice and Data Packages for use abroad with the first call made abroad at zero cost – a First Call Free – offering individual clients three free minutes in received or originated calls in international trips. For corporate clients using their Blackberry abroad, a monthly data package was also created, with unlimited GPRS/EDGE/3G connection in all countries within TIM’s coverage.
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2009 was a year of progress for the TIM Fixo and TIM Office plans.
In the Consumer segment, TIM launched the 100-minute package at R$19.00 – the market’s cheapest fixed telephone package – and the special Number Portability offering, providing extra benefits for clients coming from other operators. It reached the mark of 50% of the gross additions from clients coming from the competition, confirming the potential of TIM Fixo as an important option in the fixed telephony market.
In the Business segment, “TIM Office Plus” was launched, an innovative service that integrates the Company’s fixed and mobile telephone extensions in a single network allowing users to talk for free with one another. Still in this segment, the “TIM Empresa Simples” plan provided small and medium-sized companies with a simpler option of the “TIM Office Plus” plan, with unlimited Fixed-to-Fixed calls + TIM Web for R$99.00. For the regions with no 3G coverage, the offering was adjusted and the price of the unlimited fixed-to-fixed call package was reduced to R$89.00.
In both Consumer and Business segments, 2009 was the year to launch the promotion that established that any calls made between TIM’s fixed telephones were to be free of charge. With all these measures, our fixed base grew more than 60% in the year.
The acquisition of Intelig will allow TIM to increase even more its fixed telephony offering in 2010. Intelig already operates fixed, long-distance telephony and data transmission provider in Brazil and has a solid network infrastructure.
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In 2009, revenues from value-added services accounted for 12% of the gross service revenues, amounting to R$1.9 billion, almost a 20% growth in the year. Value-added services were always present in TIM’s agenda of launches for the market.
The Company carried out several actions and special promotions to keep on leveraging the use of SMS and increase its penetration, by encouraging people to experience the service. Among the main promotional actions of the year, the following stand out: MegaTIM Torpedos, MegaTIM Mensagens, Pacote Torpedo Ilimitado and TIM Torpedo Surpresa.
Throughout 2009, TIM also invested in several actions to encourage access to the Internet via mobile phone. In March, TIM launched the Unlimited Data Package for mobile phones, the cheapest in the market, with which TIM’s postpaid clients have unlimited Internet access, send emails and exchange messages by using their smartphones.
In the second semester, in an effort to increase penetration of its data services, TIM launched some very accessible offerings, including the cheapest data package in the market, a 100 MB package for only R$9.90/month.
Also, the year of 2009 was marked by the launch of the BlackBerry Light service, through which BlackBerry smartphone users have unlimited access to personal emails and instant message applications such as MSN, Yahoo, Messenger, Google Talk and BlackBerry Messenger.
Moreover, TIM invested in the launch of applications that encouraged the continuous use of data, such as with Windows Live, to access the Messenger, Hotmail and Spaces. Furthermore, in a partnership with the brokerage firm Ágora and Agência Estado, TIM now offers its clients the TIM Ágora Móbile Promotion, a Mobile Broker groundbreaking solution that enables users of the application to trade in shares listed on the stock exchange via mobile phone. It also allows users to check trading prices and keep themselves informed on the financial market news.
During the year, TIM endeavored to launch promotions that stimulated the trial and purchase of contents in its virtual music and game stores, in addition to its partners’ contents. In 2Q09, TIM launched the Nokia 5800 Comes With Music handset with the innovative offering of granting two free months of the Unlimited Mobile Data Package to clients buying the handset, in addition to free music for a year at the Nokia music store. Another model for paying for services was implemented, seeking to encourage accesses to TIM Music Store and TIM Games: free downloading. Also, browsing on TIM Music Store through the WAP portal was free of charge.
Aiming to bringing people closer together, in July, TIM launched the TIM Café service, a social networking and chat community used by TIM clients for exchanging messages and keeping up with other people through torpedoes on TIM Café’s site and via Wap. The “Portal de Voz” (Voice Portal) service was also launched, through which clients will have access to a menu with options for chat rooms, voting rooms, and will be able to listen to the news and access information channels in general.
In October, TIM advertised its partnership with the American company Qualcomm, one of the world’s major telecommunications company. The partnership was responsible for launching TIM App Store – the first virtual store of applications provided by a Brazilian operator, which will offer applications compatible with all handsets that support Java and other operating systems such as Android, Symbian, Windows Phone and BlackBerry.
With regard to contents, the 2009 strategy entrusted the main white label portals of the TIM brand to specialized and renowned partners in their areas of operation. The management of TIM Music Store, TIM Games Store, Portal de Esporte (Sports Portal) and Portal Infotainment (information + entertainment) are currently outsourced to companies that have risen to the challenge of improving content quality, leveraging the client base and making a difference for VAS at TIM.
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In March of 2009, TIM once more innovated by launching “TIM Web Pré-Pago” (Prepaid TIM Web), the Country’s first prepaid mobile internet service. The offer targets clients with different needs for using the mobile internet. Together with the service, the “Pacote Dia” (Daily Package) offering was launched, with which clients may contract a package that allows the use of 250 Mb of data traffic in 24 consecutive hours at a special price.
In the postpaid service, the portfolio available in the 3G coverage areas (comprising unlimited access packages with speeds up to 600Kbps, 1Mbps and 7Mbps) gained another speed option, of up to 300Kbps. It is a more economical option aimed at clients that need a mobile internet with access to content, without the need of great speeds.
top In 2009, TIM radically changed the offering of handsets and applications.
Over the course of the year, TIM introduced constant innovations for the Brazilian mobile phone market. In line with the Company’s strategic positioning, TIM was a pioneer in the exclusive launch of cutting-edge handsets. In the first semester of 2009, TIM launched the BlackBerry Storm, the first BlackBerry touchscreen, in a joint campaign with the Canadian company RIM, Research in Motion. In a partnership with Nokia, was also launched, first-hand, the first touchscreen model of the manufacturer, also bringing the new concept for experiencing unlimited music in a mobile phone with the Nokia 5800 Comes with Music.
In the second semester, TIM continued innovating by bringing Apple’s iPhone 3GS. TIM was also the first operator to launch in Brazil, having the exclusivity of mobile phones with Google Android technology, fully integrated to the internet services of the American giant of the Web. In an exclusive partnership with Microsoft, TIM also launched the new portfolio of Windows phone products.
In support of TIM’s sustainability strategy, was launched a range of mobile phones that gave origin to the “eco line”. The handsets are made of recycled material with Free Carbon certification such as Motorola W233 and Motocubo A45, in addition to a fully exclusive launch of the Samsung Crest Solar with solar-powered rechargeable battery.
In the world of applications, real stars of those who have smartphones, TIM was once more a pioneer by launching the “Brasileirão TIM 2009” iPhone application, available from App Store for free download, with all the information on the Brazilian Football Championship including updated ranking, next games, latest news and photos of each team participating in the Series A and B of the Championship.
In 2009, TIM consolidated its pioneering spirit with the convergent offering of netbooks with TIM’s 3G mobile internet service, the TIM Web. A TIM exclusive, the Mini HP 1150 with built-in 3G modem offers the highest standard of quality, mobility and design to those clients who took advantage of the discounted handset (price) with the purchase of TIM Web (or for being clients for over ten months).
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