Vodacom and Ogilvy get customers to break up with their old networks with new data pricing

Jorge Mendes, Chief Officer of the Vodacom Consumer Business Unit, explains, “This campaign was about announcing Vodacom’s decision to move into an even more competitive data price-point. It marks our commitment to the price 'righting' journey which means that we can connect more people, and if we can change the price of data, we can change lives.”

In order to communicate this big news, the campaign objective was to move the overall perception around data price in the mind of consumers and to drive positive sentiment in the market about data prices – a topic which is generally always negative. The campaign launched in September and also served to set the tonality for the major summer campaign which follows.

The insight behind the campaign is that not all data is the same. The market is comparing data for data, but some gigs are in fact better than others. Consumers may be paying less with a competitor, but they are also having to put up with less coverage, availability, added value and service. Consumers are defending their okay gig – like an okay relationship. With the new reduced data pricing, consumers will have the opportunity to have a relationship with a better gig. The message to land was to ‘move on to a better gig at a better price’. The campaign anchored the reduced pricing around the 30-day 1G bundle on the My Vodacom app (from R149 to R99) as evidence for the promise.

The execution of the idea included a TVC, radio, various digital, social and retail executions, and was conceptualised under the guidance of Matthew Berge, Creative Director at Ogilvy. “We really wanted to create a very different feel for this campaign, to signify that Vodacom reducing data pricing really changes the playing field for telcos. The idea of humanising a gig to show that not all data is equal translated into a great break-up story and one which we could amplify across platforms.” The film content shot by Giant Films over two days in Johannesburg downtown and the suburbs, captures a series of break-ups with poor, underperforming, unavailable gigs and a move onto something much better.

In the first month the campaign has resulted in the most positive sentiment that Vodacom has had around a campaign in recent years. Abey Mokgwatsane, Managing Executive for Marketing, confirms, “This campaign has tracked at more than a 70% positive sentiment for the brand which is a major shift in the way consumers are viewing data on the Vodacom network. The art of poking fun at competitor brands always comes with some risk, but our consumer base has really run with the idea of being able to defend their use of a better gig and has given non-users something to think about – a real reason to switch.”