Vodafone: BEYOND BARRIERS

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Localised Campaign

Advertiser: VODAFONE

Product/Service: INTERNATIONAL CALLING CARD

Date of First Appearance: Oct 18 2010

Entrant Company: OMD SPAIN, Madrid, SPAIN

Producer: Vanesa González (OMD)

Project Director: Fátima Valverde (OMD)

Producer: Susana Barona (OMD)

Account Director: Noelia Fernández (OMD)

Account Supervisor: Alberto Rayado (OMD)

Media Planner: Felipe García (OMD)

Media placement: Guerrilla - Neighborhood Moroccan food marts and Chinese restaurants - 18 October 2010



Insights, Strategy & the Idea



Vodafone re- launched “Mi País”, a product that lets immigrants make international calls at lower prices. Vodafone was top on the list of gaining immigrant users, but within this group the poor results in two ethnic communities were frankly troubling. They were the Moroccans and the Chinese.

Both communities in Spain are two of the least integrated collectives in the country. Socio- cultural differences and language barriers, combined with limited internet access, have impeded these two very prominent groups from fully participating in local communications media.

They are extremely dedicated to their respective businesses, spending practically all of their time working. We looked at both groups in search of the most well- rooted business model, the stage that best illustrated the centre of their daily social activity, the ideal milieu in which to share Vodafone’s proposition and, as a result, our strongest insight: make their day- to- day life the best communications medium.



Creative Execution

Neighbourhood Moroccan food marts and Chinese restaurants are these two communities’ most prosperous businesses. So, we approached Chinese restaurant owners and Moroccan Mom & Pop store proprietors in an effort to make them Vodafone’s main “ambassadors” by means of a simple “calling card”.

We turned their employees’ aprons (with Vodafone’s offer printed in the groups’ native language) into a remarkably effective– and living- ad campaign.

All the merchants and workers were trained and received the required promotional material to be able to explain to their compatriots the benefits of the “Mi País” discount program. The message was turned into an authentic recommendation of trust between relatives, friends and acquaintances and naturally had wide repercussions far beyond the social barriers or language barriers.



Results and Effectiveness

We were able to find a direct, close- up manner of getting Vodafone’s new fees before the public and overcoming the socialization difficulties of these two ethnic groups. At the start of the project, 83% of people contacted reported no knowledge of the new “Mi País” (“My Country”) campaign offers. A 10% increase in recognition among both communities would eventually result in more than 27,000 new customers (84% of the campaign’s total increase). Spontaneous applications from these and other “immigrant” establishments to the Vodafone promotional program actually tripled the business volume we had registered in our initial campaign.