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July 02, 2015

Airtel Uses National Superstars to Bolster Telephony Services in Growing Market


By Dominick Sorrentino
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As competition among service providers becomes cut throat, and as VoIP continues to proliferate, telcos are diverting their gaze to establishing a foothold in developing markets. Nigeria, a nation of approximately 173 million, is one such market, and telecommunications company Airtel (News - Alert) is doing everything it can to seize the opportunity by offering improved telephony services.


Earlier this month, the company announced five brand ambassadors in an effort to mobilize brand recognition and loyalty. They include TuFace Idibia (music legend), Phyno (rap artist), Patoranking (reggae dance hall singer), Akpororo (comedian), and IK Osakioduwa (TV Personality). So what do a music legend, rapper, dance hall singer, comedian, and TV personality have in common with telephony?

As of this week, their voices and entertainment media is being used in two big updates from Airtel: Airtel Name Tune, and the Caller Ring Back Tunes.

The former will allow subscribers to set up phone calls so that it seems upon first impression that one of the five Smart Icons is answering the call. Meanwhile, the Ring Back Tune feature will give subscribers easy access to the icons’ works for ring back purposes.

“With the union of the Smart Network and our Smart Icons, it has become imperative to provide smart services,” Airtel Nigeria’s Chief Commercial Officer, Maurice Newa said. “The Name Tune and the Caller Ring Back Tunes are designed to delight our esteemed subscribers by providing them with these exciting services to bring joy to the world of communication.”

Image via Shutterstock

Additional features includes a bank of names or nicknames that can be spoken—for example, for a voice message or voice directory—that can be customized so that they are spoken by one of the five icons.

While the success of these tactics in an already booming market, such as in the U.S. or Japan, might be questionable, Nigeria’s telephony space still has a lot of room for growth, and telecoms such as Airtel Nigeria need to find a way to truly penetrate the market. Delivering an opportunity to business customers that allows them to reach out to consumers with nationally recognized, well-respected icons could help drive business at the business to consumer level, which would in turn improve business to business telephony opportunities.

It’s certainly a bit gimmicky, but it might just have enough flare to add some fire to Nigeria’s growing market.

Only time will tell. 




Edited by Maurice Nagle
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