Ghost Tales - An Airtel Product Story

Background

Ever experienced a situation where a preconceived notion of you by others had stopped you from achieving a goal? At least without you having to prove yourself first? Well that was the case for MNOs in Nigeria trying to enter the HBB segment of the Telecom Industry.

In the Nigerian Telecom Industry, there are the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) trusted for providing Call and Mobile Data bundles; and the companies categorized as Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as Spectranet, Swift etc, who are the perceived ‘go-to’ providers of large data bundles.

As a result of this, the HBB segment of the telecom industry has mostly been dominated by ISPs as a result of the perception that they offer more data value; even as various MNOs try to venture into the segment.

Despite this, Airtel, one of the leading MNOs in Nigeria, still poised itself to take on the market and prove to consumers that they are the better choice when it comes to selecting HBB providers. The problem here was, how to navigate a market that believed MNOs and ISPs had two clear cut offerings.

Challenges and Objectives

From a Business POV, MNOs were experiencing significant resistance from consumers when it came to buying HBB; despite the fact that broadband usage was on the rise. For context, while Broadband penetration had increased by 91.7 percent within 2017-2021 with a penetration rate of 40.66% as at April 2021 (PUNCH, 2021), the top used HBB providers were ISPs such as Spectranet, Smile, NTEL etc.

In trying to uncover why MNOs were facing such resistance despite the fact that they offered similar value but better coverage than ISPs, we discovered the problem beneath the problem. MNOs faced a ‘perception problem’ of being ‘ISP Wannabe(s)’. Consumers, with time, had associated them with only Voice and Mobile data and hence, believed ISPs gave more value/volume when it came to HBB usage.

So we thought, how do we convince people who have a false perception of what Airtel had to offer, that by not using an Airtel HBB, they were settling for way less than they could be enjoying?

The Insight

When people see you in a certain way (labels) based on your history (association), embracing the positives of it can be more profitable than fighting it.

This was our moment of epiphany. The realization that although we might have similar offerings, Airtel was still seen as different from an ISP.

The Strategy

We decided to embrace this. To show people that need and can afford a HBB that while Airtel may not be an ISP, it does a better job with more coverage and reliability.

· Get: Everyone who needs and can afford a HBB

· To: See Airtel HBB as their best option

· By: Showing clearly that what looks like flaws, is exactly what makes us better.

Creative Executions/Idea

The Ghost

To pass across the message intended by the strategy, we created an alternate reality borne out of using “ISPs” and not Airtel, one marred by a lack of network coverage nor service reliability.

While we sought to address everyone who could afford a HBB, we specifically built this alternate reality around ‘Work from Home’ professionals. People with occupations that required large volume, high speed and reliable data at a time in which remote work was the trend, ‘Can you see/hear me?’ a Mantra in virtual meetings. Speaking of the question “Can you see me?” or the statement “Oh, I think we lost her”, these were the very elements that nudged us in creating a reality for the “work from home professionals” where they were ghost and invisible to everyone around them, while using “ISPs” of course.

This was the perfect opportunity for Airtel to show why its expertise in providing reliable and fast internet connection in far more locations than the conventional ISPs made it the perfect choice of HBB brand.

For our Film, we took viewers on a journey through the sad and emotional life of a working class woman who felt invisible and “ghosted” by her family, neighbours and colleagues and how sweet and lively life is when you can easily communicate with your family and friends.

For our Radio spots, we rode on the ‘ghost’ narrative by playing out the frustrating scenario of ‘Work From Home’ professionals who keep getting cut off or disconnected during meetings due to the usage of unreliable networks. We wrapped this up by conveying the need to use an Airtel HBB if you want reliable and consistent connection so you are not ‘ghosted’.

For our Print and online display materials, we leveraged on a similar narrative of how hard it is to enjoy life when you use data that doesn’t work. Using pixelated characters, we showed how you appear ‘unclear’ and ‘unreal’ you look to people and vice versa, when you use a HBB that isn’t Airtel.

Results

This was a campaign well received by its target audience. The video gained over 2 million views across all platforms and over 16,000 hits in terms of engagements; with less than 2% of the reviews being negative.

Popular influencer, Taaooma, also made a parody of the TVC which gained over 600k views and had a substantial number of positive sentiments all of which aided to the positive reviews of the original ad.

There was also a high consumer engagement as the #Ghostchallenge had a large number of people participate in the challenge by sending in pictures taken with the Airtel HBB filter, in order to stand a chance to win a prize.

The HBB display banners also had over 48 million impressions across digital platforms such as GDN, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube, all of which contributed to the positive reception of the campaign.
 

Case Video