Building a strong telecom brand in africa

Building a Strong Telecom Brand in Africa

Olu Akanmu GSM in Africa Conference

GSM in Africa Conference

Capetown, South Africa

Olu Akanmu

November 2002

Origin of African Telecom Brands

• Former or current state monopolies or incumbents

• Entrepreneurial organizations usually in mobile or the last mile as applicable

November 2002 Olu Akanmu GSM in Africa Conference

mobile or the last mile as applicable challenging incumbents

• Global brands in Africa– Orange• Focus of presentation on entrepreneurial

organizations with international ambitions

Consolidation of Operators in African Markets

• Pyramid Research – November 2001

• True pan-African mobile operators have emerged


– MTN, Vodacom, MSI, Econet, Telecel?

• Multi-country presence implies defining a consistent brand identity across countries

Brand Development in Entrepreneurial Telecom Organizations

• Brand Strategy not robust and well defined at market entry

• Strategy tend to be limited to “providing a better service than incumbent ” and “pricing”


service than incumbent ” and “pricing”

• Tend to be inadequate in a three plus player market– “better service” and “pricing” tend to become industry

generic strategies, easily adopted by a third entrant

– Brand differentiation becomes blurred

Brand Development in Entrepreneurial Telecom Organizations

• Going abroad to new markets, there is usually a second entrant already staking a claim to “better service” and “pricing” positions.


positions.• Marketing communications become

generic– the consumer struggles to find “what is

different about you”– Commoditization and low industry

profitability

Competitive Positions and Strategic Options (Porter)

Differentiation


Low Cost

Broad Focus

Commoditisation- everyone competes in the same way

Differentiation


Low Cost

Broad Focus

Exploring Differentiation Opportunities-

A Robust Brand Identity (Aakers)

Brand


Brand asProduct

Brand asOrganization

Brand as Person

Brand as Symbol

Brand as Product

• Product Category– Mobile/ fixed

• Product Scope– Packages, VAS

• Product Attributes

• Users – Who are your users?

• Country of Origin– France and Orange in


• Product Attributes– Coverage, VAS

• Quality/Value– Perceived Quality*****

– Value for money

– France and Orange in Cameroun

– SA for MTN, Vodacom (headstart in Nigeria, Congo)

– From Africa, we know Africa and its needs

Brand as Organization• What organization attributes have you got

that your brand can leverage?– Culture, values and people– Innovation, trust and integrity– Customer champions

• Local or International


• Local or International• Very difficult to copy by competitors • Provide credibility to brand value

proposition• Drive internal alignment with brand values• Corporate brands and pay offs• Align PR Strategy with this part of Brand

Identity

Brand as Person• Brand is like a person.

– demographic and lifestyle descriptions

• Brand Personality can be created by– User imagery -“Vodacom Yebo”– may be different from actual user


– may be different from actual user profile

– Sponsorships- be consistent– Age in the market (keep your brand

forever young)

• Not personality for personality sake. – Create a personality with relevant

appeal

Brand as a Person

• Personality descriptors– Caring, energetic, upwardly

mobile, young, intelligent, funny

• Reflects the user’s ideal or actual personality concept


actual personality concept• What does it say about me?

• Forms an emotional relationship with consumer e.g friendly

• Weak telecom brands tend not to have a distinctive personality

Brand as Symbol• Visual imageries

– Graphics and colors (MTN’s yellow)– Logos– Brand Identity is greater than colors

• Metaphors– Mystiques associated with brand– Build positive mystique around your brand


– Build positive mystique around your brand– Create stories /allegories that support your brand uniqueness– Most African Telecom Brands lack “mystiques” and

“metaphors” • Mystiques can only come out of strong lifestyle associations

• Brand Heritage– Do you have a worthy pedigree?. Orange enters Africa with

significant brand power due to pedigree– Vodacom / MTN in African Countries

Brand Value Proposition• Distill brand identity into a clear brand value

proposition – unique and relevant functional /emotional benefits

• Strong telecom brands deliver more than functional benefits


functional benefits– they connect with consumer emotions by leveraging

the other three parts of the brand identity– From “Bundles of talktime to bundles of love”

• Self-expressive benefit– What does it say about me?– How does it make me feel?

Define a clear brand architecture

• Structure of roles and relationships among the brands, branded packages/ VAS


VAS

• A defined brand hierarchy is critical to optimal portfolio management and resource allocation

Define a clear brand architecture

• Driver brand(s), Endorsers and Sub-brands– Which network? Am I on the right network?

(Driver brand)– Which package? (Branded Package/ sub-


– Which package? (Branded Package/ sub-brand and endorsement) from driver brand)

– Which VAS? (Branded VAS endorsed by branded package/ sub brand or driver brand)

• Driver brand(s) should be given priority in resource allocation

Telecom Brand Leadership• A robust brand identity and clear

architecture• Lifestyle/ Emotional connections with

target markets• Perceived or Real quality means brand

leadership


leadership– Deliver quality as defined by subscribers and

communicate it

• Aspirational image• Innovation leadership and Perception• Align the organization behind the brand

– Deliver on your brand covenant/ promise

• Brand is more than products

Telecom Brand Leadership• A strong play in the mass market with

differentiation strategy and reasonable price premium

• 360” marketing, multiple media beyond advertising– Sponsorship, PR, Channel, Pricing


– Sponsorship, PR, Channel, Pricing

• Create a brand experience– Events– The Vodaworld– Cadbury theme park

• Brilliant Execution and consistency• Persistent investment• Measure brand equity (tracking)

Brand Asset Leverage across Africa

• Convergence and commonalities of market segments across Africa

• Lifestyle values cuts across countries– HNIs, youths, family, fun

• Emergence of cross-country media and spill


• Emergence of cross-country media and spill overs– Satellite Pay TV- Supersports, Channel O, TV Africa

• International travels and migrations in the continent

• International Events and Sponsorship Properties– African Cup of Nations

Leveraging Brand Assets across countries

• A consistent/ robust brand identity and positioning in all markets

• International view in developing brand campaigns (a common ad across Africa)


– Brand Strategy must be robust as to be relevant across borders

• International Brand Management Structures• Appoint endowed countries as centers of

excellence for experimentation and learning• Roll out learning

Conclusion

• A strong brand is critical to strong ROI and Shareholder Value


Shareholder Value

• Build, build and build

• Thank you

Building a strong telecom brand in africa

Technology

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