El Propio Chip: How to become the preferred mobile provider

Challenge

Comcel is the leading mobile operator in Colombia, with 67% of the market, but in the coastal areas of the country Tigo is the most popular mobile operator. The challenge for MPG was to increase sales for Comcel in the coastal areas whilst ensuring the campaign related to the local customs.

Insight

The coast of Colombia is very different to other parts of the country, people living in this area speak and live differently and refer to people living on the inner part of the country as "cachacos" (meaning boring people).

Comcel conducted research to understand the people living on the coast of Colombia better. In light of the research MPG created a new character called El Propio Chip, a character and product tailor made for the Caribbean people living on the coast. The product was a new sim card from Comcel, the character was shaped like the sim card and given a friendly face to appeal to the target audience.

Solution

MPG used a multimedia strategy, using OOH as the main channel. Loudspeaker cars and mobile billboards were used across the region to present the new product and character. El Propio Chip was promoted on the Costabook (Social Network on the coast of Colombia) to encourage locals to choose Comcel.

An interactive mobile billboard was linked with a Wii games console and users could play baseball and basketball with the opportunity to win Comcel products. This allowed the benefits of Comcel to be explained in an informal and fun way.

This was supported by local radio and TV spots promoting the outdoor events.

Results

Comcel saw a sales increase of 88%, achieving the highest sales for the previous two years.

The amount on Comcel minutes used peaked at 944,059,335 minutes.