MTN spent a substantial amount of money on its recent double-page newspaper advertisement, aimed at its smaller rival Cell C as the two engage in a marketing back-and-forth sparked by the mobile termination rates (MTR) debate.
The yellow operator placed an "open letter" to Cell C on facing pages two and three of SA's biggest weekly broadsheet, the Sunday Times, this past weekend.
Page two contained two words, black-on-yellow, "We're guilty" - while the opposite page featured a letter laden with sarcasm in response to Cell C's recent radio advert that implied MTN had opposed the Independent Communications Authority of SA's (ICASA) latest MTR regime.
MTRs are the fees mobile operators pay each other to carry calls on their networks. At the end of January ICASA introduced regulations that largely favour later entrants Cell C and Telkom Mobile.
Shortly after MTN took legal action against ICASA in a bid to halt the new termination rate regime and review certain aspects of it, in mid-February, Cell C launched a radio ad campaign disparaging the operator's move. Cell C intimated MTN was greedy and that its customers would end up footing its legal bill.
Mad money
MTN did not respond to queries around its marketing budget and the said double-page spread.
According to an advertising company, which does not want to be named, while the only two entities that will ever know the true cost of the Sunday paper ad are MTN and the Sunday Times themselves, it is safe to say MTN spent "mad money" on it.
The Sunday Times 2014 rate card does not give a figure for advertising space on facing pages two and three. The rate is given on an individual basis, per request.
The advertising company says, however, a quarter page advert on page three would set the advertiser back over R240 000. According to the rate card, a 15 x 10 solus (an advert that is separated from competing adverts) on page three costs R252 675.
Because page two is usually reserved for editorial content, a loading fee of anything from 25% to 300% could have been charged, says the company.
"Usually, only pages three, five, seven and nine would contain advertising."
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