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10 Years On, the Beat Goes On for GLO [analysis](AllAfrica Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) By August, it will be 10 years since Globacom emerged to operate alongside global leaders in the telecommunications market. As it launched a new campaign to herald the anniversary, Raheem Akingbolu writes on the exciting moments for the brand and its promoters. The story is that of not giving up despite all odds. But the greater story of the Glo brand is never told by those who promoted it, but the alternative it gave to the ultimate owners of the brand; the subscribers. With a frustrating verdict from existing service providers that per second billing was not possible until probably five years after roll-out, the coming of Glo in 2003, ten years ago, put a lie to this and changed the nation's telecommunication landscape. Perhaps, the first television classic promoting the brand, using the motif of the unfinished banana, was a telling message that told the network's would-be subscribers that no matter how little your airtime was, as at then, you would always have a left-over. That was the power of the Glo communication strategy that launched it into the nation's telecommunication market. And ten years on, the beat goes on. Preparatory to its 10th anniversary celebration on August 29, the telecommunications company recently unveiled a new strap-line tagged "unlimited," to reaffirm its brand promise to consumers. New Strap-line As guests relished the beauty of the television commercial and all its creative embellishments, patrons were again reminded of the status of 'Glo' as a wholly Nigerian brand, moving steadily to 'rule the world'. This is so because, in cast, setting and presentation, the concept was tailored along the new code of Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), which emphasised the need for local content in Nigerian ad terrain. The theme of the campaign is: 'We Got People Talking (WGPT)'. According to the company, with 'unlimited' as the new pay- off, the brand has only encapsulated Glo's commitment to enable subscribers achieve their dreams and desires, while embodying its attitude towards stakeholders. It was further stated that the new line sign-posts a commitment that the brand will always be there for stakeholders, while facilitating the realisation of their desires anywhere in the world, through the brand's top class network. Speaking at the launch, Globacom's Chief Operating Officer, Mohammed Jameel, said the new pay-off line marks a natural progression in the growth of the Glo brand identity and represents the commitment of the company to its subscribers. He explained that Glo will offer subscribers the power to achieve and excel, meaning that with Glo, they can realise their dreams and achieve endless possibilities, through unfettered access to the best tools that will enhance their productivity and energise their professional and social connections. 'Unlimited' campaign, Jameel said, underscores the essence of the brand's belief in the consumer in the sense that Glo subscribers are operating without boundaries in their attitude and altitude towards what they can achieve in life. "It means that consumers can therefore go all out, pulling out all the stops in the drive towards achieving their objectives because Glo is always there to make it happen," he said. The new campaign is said to also represent Glo's attitude towards the managers of the brand which include management and staff and other stakeholders because anything positive they seek is possible. Jameel further explained that the new strap-line captures the relevance of the Glo brand promise to its various stakeholders as well as staff after the monumental success of previous strap lines such as 'Glo with Pride' and 'Rule your World' campaigns. How it all Started When it came into the market in 2003, the brand was launched with 'Glo with Pride', obviously to promote and build a sense of pride in every Nigerians by providing a world-class indigenous telecom network which offered Nigerians the enablement platform to succeed in different fields of human endeavour. This was later followed with the 'Rule your World' campaign as a message of empowerment that helped build confidence in Nigerians that they can achieve their dreams, rule their world and be the best that they want to be. To Jameel, the previous messages have not only positively impacted on the brand; they have gone a long way in positioning it as a loving brand in the market with lots of patrons. According to him, "So, we are happy at what these slogans have achieved for our company and our subscribers who have been inspired to dream, work hard, achieve their life objectives and rule their world. With the new pay off line 'Unlimited' there is indeed no limit to what our stakeholders can achieve if they believe in themselves," Jameel said. Globacom's Director of Advertising, Joachim Atunwa, stated that the theme 'We Got People Talking' was used as a soundtrack in Glo submarine cable television commercial entitled 'Glo goes Global.' The commercial, which went on air some months ago, celebrates the multimillion-dollar submarine cable being laid by Globacom from Nigeria to Europe and US. The facility, which will provide the much-required bandwidth for Africa, is the first such project by any individual company on the continent. Atunwa recalled Globacom's initiatives in the industry, which have ensured that Nigerians are able to communicate seamlessly with one another at very low costs. These, he said, included the introduction of Per Second Billing (PSB), the crashing of SIM cost from around N25,000 before Globacom launched services to as low as N200, the lowering of call tariffs from N50 to as low as N10 per minute as well as the introduction of several value-added services. "As a concept, WGPT was motivated by Globacom's founding philosophy of empowering Nigerians of all walks of life and spheres to effectively communicate with each other; to reach out to the world and be reached. We began a demonstration of our empowerment philosophy with our 2.5G infrastructure and per second billing, all with a view to ensuring that Nigerians enjoyed what their counterparts in the developed parts of the world enjoyed at that time," Atunwa stated. "As the world recently ascended to 3G platform," he continued, "we became the first to give it to Nigerians, with a plus - Glo 3G Plus. When we hit the 20 million subscriber base recently, which coincided with our 5th year Anniversary, we felt we had an obligation to celebrate a dream realised - the dream of empowering Nigerians of all strata and across geography, to talk." Competition Since the first day Glo berthed on the nation's telecommunication landscape, its promoters have not left anybody in doubt about their mission. Obviously aware of what the future would look like for the new brand, Globacom chairman, Chief Mike Adenuga, said in his keynote address during the 2003 launch that Glo had the vision to be the market leading service provider in Nigeria and aspired to build Africa's biggest and best telecommunications network. Being a local player in the market that was then being controlled by foreign companies, not a few people discarded the statement as mere patronising words used by a business man to woo consumers. While the pessimistic feeling of Nigerians toward the brand could be linked to the fear that it would be difficult for Adenuga and his team to beat the ground the existing brand had covered, it was clear from the beginning that the operators didn't expect the newcomer to spring any surprise. This seemed to be where they got it wrong as Glo didn't only bring surprise but instantly unsettled the market. By 2001, in terms of market share, there was no operator among the first two players; Econet and MTN that could say it was having any advantage over the other player. Both came in at the same time and had virtually virgin land to till in terms of marketing drive. What then mattered was what each was offering in terms of services to sway a rather gullible subscriber and by extension, how deep the pocket of campaign funds was. And this played a very major role in the advantage a particular operator had today over others. In terms of positioning and battle for brand equity, there was nothing that presented challenges for the brand manager than pushing through a market, a service such market was never aware of. The first challenge was to convince prospective consumers that they needed the services and the second one was to create identity that would distinguish your brand from the rest that would later come in when the stories become that of success. But it is surely a different ball game when coming to a virgin land to battle for a slice of the consumer's loyalty. And that was what happened between MTN and then Econet (now Airtel) when the GSM fever swept across the land in 2001. At the end, MTN became the market leader as a result of boardroom politics, which crippled the first coming of Econet. But with cutting-edge strategies and more friendly products, supported by inviting campaign, Globacom has consistently positioned itself as a brand that was inspired to change the trend in the market. This explains why the brand has maintained an unblemished record in the last 10 years and if there was anything that responsible for this, it must be an inspiration from an outfit to change the way the nation was communicating. Copyright This Day. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). |