Magic is now being made available through innovative retail outlets like chemists, grocers, photo-studios, departmental stores, telecom outlets, and of course, paan shops. Says BCL chief executive officer Anil Nayar: ``The idea is that a person should be able to walk across from his office or home to pick up a card.''

The launch of Magic, BCL's second cellular brand after flagship AirTel, was triggered by a BCL survey undertaken in 1998, which revealed that budget-buyers found the cost of entry too high. Magic has therefore deliberately been priced to appeal to middle management executives, traders, students and housewives.

The card is priced at Rs2,260, which includes an activation fee of Rs 1,200, calling value of Rs 952 and service tax of Rs 108. Clubbed with a second-hand handset costing between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000, BCL reckons the cost of entry for Magic plummets down to just Rs 6,000 -- as against the usual cost of Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000. But the real magic lies in the distribution of the new brand:

Channel Strategy: BCL's earlier cellular brand AirTel was marketed through a distribution chain that started with two authorised distributors (branded AirTel Points). These along with franchisees for 19 one-stop cellular shops, called Airtel Connect, in turn appointed 300 dealers, who dealt directly with the subscribers.

In the case of Magic, BCL has appointed 12 distributors so far, each of whom have their own chain of retailers, who will sell Magic directly to subscribers. To motivate the new channel to hunt for Magic subscribers, BCL starts by reassuring the retailers -- from as diverse backgrounds as chemists and grocers to paan-shops-- that cellular services are not as complex to sell, as they suspect.

With a two-tier distribution set-up -- from the company to distributors, to retail outlets -- Magic has already been made available in 500 outlets in the Capital. Next on call: an expansion to 2,000 outlets in the next six months. Says Anil Nayar: ``With Magic, we want to be present in every square kilometer of the city. We can grow significantly if we can make it a mass market.''

The idea: keep the distribution cost low, develop Magic into a mass brand, and capitalise on the channel's wider reach and customary personalised services, like home delivery of FMCG products. With a retail approach closer to that of Duracell, BCL will avoid exclusive outlets. But within the more humble retail establishments, it will occupy a prominent position at the counters.

Says Pramod Kumar Gupta, director, Luxmi Colors Lab Pvt Ltd, a photoshop at Bengali Market in New Delhi: ``What attracted us to stock Magic was not the commission, which is ameagre five per cent of the calling value of Rs 952, but BCL's strong subscriber base.''

However, Gupta feels that it's measures like door-to-door campaigning and merchandising activities at the retail point, which will draw in new subscribers. Agrees Nayar, ``We'll create the merchandising in the next four months.''

Consumer Pull: Determined to keep the new brand's identity distinct from AirTel -- which addresses the needs of upscale executives and businessmen -- BCL settled for a name like Magic ``that would make life simple'' and a utility value (affordability and accessibility) that would appeal to the ``younger, vibrant generation''.

Close on the heels of the card-launch comes a high-pitched More Magic print campaign, handled by Chaitra Leo Burnett. The ads drive home the brand benefits in Hinglish: ``No jhanjhat/ Connection jhatpat''; ``Cellphone bhi, expense bhi/ Dono aapki mutthi mein''; ``Magic dalo/ Say hello''.BCL is also promoting the brand via theYellow-wash strategy: ad splashes in newspapers, point of presence material, bus shelters and hoardings, all highlight the yellow colour associated with the Magic brand.

A radio FM campaign is being worked out while a roadshow -- conducted by event management company Candid Promotions Ltd -- winds through lanes and bazaars of Delhi. The company has also launched a series of promos which allow participants to win Nokia 5110 handsets, Magic T-shirts and pens.

With Magic out in the market, Nayar now hopes to double BCL's existing subscriber base of 140,000 in the next three years. Also, with Magic, the company expects the momentum to swing away from contract cards, which currently account for 80 per cent of BCL's subscription, in favour of prepaid ones (20 per cent).

``In six to nine months the ratio between the two should become fairly equal as the popular subscriber segment would prefer prepaid cards to contract cards,'' says Nayar. Magic might yet spell abracadabra for Bharti's mass appeal.