The colorful, musical and star-studded, advertising campaign that recently hit the Egyptian airwaves, marking the commencement of the holy month of Ramadan, had TV-glued audiences buzzing. The campaign featured famous Egyptian celebrities and a rare appearance of one of Egypt’s legendary artists.
From the seasonal silver screen diva Yousra to the young rising talent Donia Samir Ghanim, the ad campaign obviously relied heavily on the celebrity endorsement approach. Taking its cue from its sister/dominating mobile operator, it seems that the “newbie” operator going full force with its all-star ad series. A massive, gulf-empowered budget help fund. Another ad featured a comedy actor featuring workaday, interactions with shopkeepers and vendors.
Etlisalat has been treading waters in Egypt even since it was launched a couple of years back, attempting to penetrate the monopolized mobile operator market. When it was launched back in 2007, a series of campaigns were run barely made an impression. From colossal, up-in- your-face billboards of high-profile figures endorsing the brand, to marking-downs offers.
Who fell in the trap?
Most people who got enticed by the hot, gimmicky offers were school and college students who spared a portion of their allowance to buy prepaid line.
A seasonal visitor who compared price tags and Etisalat had the lowest!
Mobile veterans who want to experience what’s new and what this new operator is offering.
Will this abuzz campaign induce people to switch to Etisalat just by airing an ad featuring a legion of successful celebrities? The answer is an emphatic NO!
Defiantly the high ticket series of TV commercials have lent high exposure to the brand, but that doesn’t mean people will make the switch now.
The dirt
Etistalt has a notorious reputation for having the worst coverage service of all the operators in Egypt. First relied on Mobinil’s share of signal coverage, now they are claiming to serve 15 million subscribers.
Ok, this is where I cut Etisalat some slack. Etisalat’s offer is unlimited downloads over 50KBytes/sec connection for 150LE per month, you pay 12 months in advance, and they give you the modem (also a Huawei E220) for free. According to many subscribers, Etisalat’s data line gave them the best deal- the best value for money, fast and consistent speed connection.
