Pelatro implemented its precision marketing solution called mViva at a telecommunications customer in Africa to help address issues of declining ARPU and high subscriber churn. The solution analyzed customer behavior data to design targeted campaigns for micro-segments. After an 8 week implementation, initial results showed a 7.8% increase in revenue and 16% reduction in average churn rate for the approximately 210,000 subscribers using the solution. Pelatro's compensation was based on a percentage of the increased profits achieved through improved ARPU and lower churn from its precision marketing campaigns.

1. Background
Business Impact
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The Economist labelled Africa ‘the hopeless continent’ nearly two decades ago and in that time the continent
seems to have taken this as a challenge and bloomed. It now boasts of 2.1% growth rate annually and the World
Bank has stated that sub-Saharan growth has surpassed East Asia. The mobile communications sector has
burgeoned and contributes an astounding 7% to the overall GDP.
In the past, political and infrastructure instability have impeded growth of all business including the
telecommunications industry. In the calm that has followed, rapid urbanisation produced the rise of an African
middle-class that consumes and contributes to the growth of the telecom sector with an impressive 70% mobile
penetration. This has resulted in an increase of consumer expectations and consequently a high churn rate when
they lack satisfaction. Factors like high prepaid tariff rates, lack of awareness on deals and poor coverage come
into play here. Telecoms within the region stepped forward to address consumer satisfaction and consumer
support in depth.
Over the last decade with the emergence of wireless and broadband technology, the prospects for a unique
competitive advantage was dim within the industry. Companies found it a challenge to retain their customer base
and also acquire new customers. It was imperative that their conventional marketing strategies needed a
complete revamp to stay competitive and relevant within the market.
Pelatro was contracted in late 2013 by the client to implement a Precision Marketing Solution to their network.
Production go-live
date: 13 February, 2014
Revenue Impact: 7.8%
Subscribers being
handled by
mViva: ~210,000
Average reduction in
churn rate: 16%
Precision Marketing Solution to leverage contextual
data and deliver rich customer experience
Established in 2001 in Africa, the customer is
one of the fastest-growing mobile
telecommunications operators. Our customer
witnessed ARPU erosion and high levels of
churn for a while and hence there was a need
for an intervention to revise the churn rate in
the company. Their subscriber base was a
little over 200,000 prepaid users, forming
more than 99% of the base. The telco had
initiated few segmented marketing
campaigns but the response was lukewarm.
The client was looking for Pelatro to
implement a highly scalable and
sophisticated marketing solution that would
offer the best combination of targeted
applications, content and a high level of user
experience. They required our expertise to
deliver a solution that will ensure customer
retention despite intense market competition.
The rationale behind this initiative was to
ensure that the customers experience an
intuitive user interface of applications with
personalization such as 24/7 availability and
transaction on real-time that is consistent
with zero error incidents. It was essential for
the client to develop innovative applications
and services to beat the OTT competition and
to have better rapport with competitor
network operators.
The Need
A campaign planning and execution strategy
was drawn up in discussion between the
marketing team of the telco and experts from
Pelatro. The solution was delivered across 4
different languages based on the customers
need. Further, the subscriber base was divided
into micro-segments based on behavioral
characteristics and targeted campaigns were
designed accordingly. The complete process
was automated with campaigns scheduled to
run daily, weekly, fortnightly and monthly.
Policies for maximum number of campaigns
that should reach a subscriber in a month,
concurrent campaigns etc were discussed and
drawn up. Revenue impact - due to ARPU
increase and churn reduction were decided as
the metrics for measuring success of the
project. Remuneration to Pelatro was based
completely on this metric. A/B testing was
selected for measuring improvement in ARPU
and reduction in churn rate.
Approach...............
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2. The Solution
Founded by experienced telecom industry leaders, Pelatro offers solutions for Multi-Channel Campaign
Management solution. Pelatro, known for innovative solutions for telecom marketers has created a distinct
identity for itself on the grounds of trust and stability. It offers a precision marketing solution that analyses
customer behavior and provides targeted, one-to-one promotions. The company is head quartered in the United
Kingdom and has operations in many countries including US and Singapore. Pelatro has been featured in the
research document “Competitive Landscape: CSP Multichannel Campaign Management, Worldwide, 2017”
released by Gartner Inc., on 26 May, 2017.
About Pelatro
With years of experience, Pelatro has enabled telecom clients to achieve higher ARPU and lower churn rate by
tailoring precision marketing campaigns. By analysing customer behaviour and providing contextual, actionable
insights, Pelatro acts as a strategic partner for marketers in the telecom industry. Further, Pelatro helps the
marketing department of telcos to be more agile and flexible and increases their business velocity in conceiving,
designing and configuring campaigns.
Pelatro implemented mViva Precision Marketing Solution at the customer site to overcome the challenges. The
solution implementation time was 8 weeks and additional 2 weeks was given for testing. The implementation
process consisted of the following steps:
Pelatro worked on a partnership model with the customer. Pelatro’s remuneration was a percentage of the profit
generated. The client was assured with revenue outcomes based on Pelatro’s targeted campaign suggestion.
Pelatro team engaged constantly with the customer, suggesting new campaigns and changes. The company
also monitored the system remotely and alert the customer of any issues.
Engagement model
• Market study
• Solution designing and integration planning
• Data analysis of three months of past data of telco
• Adapter building and testing
• Hardware, operating system and database configuration
• Installation of mViva software
• Campaign planning, configuration and testing
• User Acceptance Testing
• Computing environment:
Dell PowerEdge T-420 server with 1 hex-core processor, 24 GB RAM and 2 TB HDD
Operating System: RHEL v6
Database: HBase v0.94, PostgreSQL v9.1
• Integrated with: IN Platform, Mediation Device & SMSC
• Customer out-reach channel: SMS
Implementation details
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