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Cell C moves to win over consumers

Bonnie Tubbs
By Bonnie Tubbs, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 04 Feb 2013
Cell C has kicked off its first marketing campaign for the year, in which it challenges South Africans to ask what they are paying for their calls.
Cell C has kicked off its first marketing campaign for the year, in which it challenges South Africans to ask what they are paying for their calls.

Cell C is urging consumers to question their respective operators about how much they are paying to have their telecommunications needs met, in an attempt to enlighten and win them over to its 99c offering.

The company officially launched its R175 million marketing campaign this morning. A three-pronged push, Cell C COO Jose dos Santos says the campaign is focused on educating consumers, giving them the power to choose their network based on the running costs of communicating, rather than the device - which Dos Santos says is largely the deciding factor.

The campaign, being conducted with Ogilvy Johannesburg, will run intensively over the next three months and consists of three aspects: "The power is in your hands", "99c education" and Cell C's new Supacharge product.

Wake up SA

Dos Santos says the campaign is a "hard-hitting" push that encourages consumers to question what they are paying for their telecoms needs. "Unfortunately, competitive advertising is not allowed in SA. If a consumer knows he is paying anything up to R3.75 per minute on certain tariffs, he will be more empowered to make the move to a more affordable option."

Ideally, says Dos Santos, Cell C would like to tell consumers that they are being ripped off. He says Cell C's Supacharge product shows what consumers could and should be paying. "If you work it out, consumers will effectively be paying 15c per minute in some instances. That is what the price should be."

Later this month, Cell C will launch "Wake Up SA" - a newsroom-style campaign, which asks how much South Africans are paying for their calls.

Dos Santos says the aim of this is to get South Africans not already on its network to question why they continue to pay exorbitant rates.

Progressive campaign

Cell C's Manifesto brand advert was screened throughout cinemas in SA in December. This has been followed by the operator's "Hands" advert, which hit television screens on Friday and flights the company's new slogan "The power is in your hands, now use it".

Dos Santos says the bottom line is educating consumers that the aspects South Africans have been focusing on for years now - particularly the device itself - are not necessarily the important factors. "You can get the phone you want anywhere - it is the cost that should be the deciding factor."

He says many constantly complain about the high cost of telecoms in the country, but few educate themselves as to exactly how much they are paying, and make an informed decision to pay less.

The Supacharge product, adds Dos Santos, was introduced to back up the advertising and marketing campaign, and has been accepted by the Independent Communications Authority of SA.

"Like the 99c product, Supacharge is not just a promotion. It will not expire."

Dos Santos notes that the campaign will target both the lower and higher end of the market, with intensive physical advertising in SA's informal sectors - including about 450 000 painted wall adverts.

He says Cell C is confident its latest campaign will help build understanding in the market. "We know that South Africans will rise to the challenge."

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