Presentation by Olu Akanmu at GSM in Africa Conference

1. Building a Strong Telecom
Brand in Africa
GSM in Africa Conference
Capetown, South Africa
Olu Akanmu
Olu Akanmu GSM in Africa November 2002
Conference

2. Origin of African Telecom
Brands
• Former or current state monopolies or
incumbents
• Entrepreneurial organizations usually in
mobile or the last mile as applicable
challenging incumbents
• Global brands in Africa– Orange
• Focus of presentation on entrepreneurial
organizations with international ambitions
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

3. Consolidation of
Operators in African Markets
• Pyramid Research – November 2001
• True pan-African mobile operators have
emerged
– MTN, Vodacom, MSI, Econet, Telecel?
• Multi-country presence implies defining a
consistent brand identity across countries
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

4. Brand Development in Entrepreneurial
Telecom Organizations
• Brand Strategy not robust and well defined at
market entry
• Strategy tend to be limited to “providing a better
service than incumbent ” and “pricing”
• Tend to be inadequate in a three plus player
market
– “better service” and “pricing” tend to become industry
generic strategies, easily adopted by a third entrant
– Brand differentiation becomes blurred
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

5. Brand Development in Entrepreneurial
Telecom Organizations
• Going abroad to new markets, there is
usually a second entrant already staking a
claim to “better service” and “pricing”
positions.
• Marketing communications become
generic
– the consumer struggles to find “what is
different about you”
– Commoditization and low industry
profitability
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

6. Competitive Positions and
Strategic Options (Porter)
Differentiation
Low Cost
Broad Focus
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

7. Commoditisation- everyone
competes in the same way
Differentiation
Low Cost
Broad Focus
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

8. Exploring Differentiation Opportunities-
A Robust Brand Identity (Aakers)
Brand
Brand as Brand as Brand as
Brand as
Product Organization Person
Symbol
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

9. Brand as Product
• Product Category • Users
– Mobile/ fixed – Who are your users?
• Product Scope • Country of Origin
– Packages, VAS – France and Orange in
• Product Attributes Cameroun
– Coverage, VAS – SA for MTN, Vodacom
• Quality/Value (headstart in Nigeria,
– Perceived Quality***** Congo)
– Value for money – From Africa, we know
Africa and its needs
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

10. Brand as Organization
• What organization attributes have you got
that your brand can leverage?
– Culture, values and people
– Innovation, trust and integrity
– Customer champions
• Local or International
• Very difficult to copy by competitors
• Provide credibility to brand value
proposition
• Drive internal alignment with brand values
• Corporate brands and pay offs
• Align PR Strategy with this part of Brand
Identity
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

11. Brand as Person
• Brand is like a person.
– demographic and lifestyle descriptions
• Brand Personality can be created
by
– User imagery -“Vodacom Yebo”
– may be different from actual user
profile
– Sponsorships- be consistent
– Age in the market (keep your brand
forever young)
• Not personality for personality
sake.
– Create a personality with relevant
appeal
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

12. Brand as a Person
• Personality descriptors
– Caring, energetic, upwardly
mobile, young, intelligent, funny
• Reflects the user’s ideal or
actual personality concept
• What does it say about me?
• Forms an emotional
relationship with consumer e.g
friendly
• Weak telecom brands tend not
to have a distinctive personality
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

13. Brand as Symbol
• Visual imageries
– Graphics and colors (MTN’s yellow)
– Logos
– Brand Identity is greater than colors
• Metaphors
– Mystiques associated with brand
– Build positive mystique around your brand
– Create stories /allegories that support your brand uniqueness
– Most African Telecom Brands lack “mystiques” and
“metaphors”
• Mystiques can only come out of strong lifestyle associations
• Brand Heritage
– Do you have a worthy pedigree?. Orange enters Africa with
significant brand power due to pedigree
– Vodacom / MTN in African Countries
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

14. Brand Value Proposition
• Distill brand identity into a clear brand value
proposition
– unique and relevant functional /emotional benefits
• Strong telecom brands deliver more than
functional benefits
– they connect with consumer emotions by leveraging
the other three parts of the brand identity
– From “Bundles of talktime to bundles of love”
• Self-expressive benefit
– What does it say about me?
– How does it make me feel?
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

15. Define a clear brand architecture
• Structure of roles and relationships
among the brands, branded packages/
VAS
• A defined brand hierarchy is critical to
optimal portfolio management and
resource allocation
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

16. Define a clear brand architecture
• Driver brand(s), Endorsers and Sub-brands
– Which network? Am I on the right network?
(Driver brand)
– Which package? (Branded Package/ sub-
brand and endorsement) from driver brand)
– Which VAS? (Branded VAS endorsed by
branded package/ sub brand or driver brand)
• Driver brand(s) should be given priority in
resource allocation
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

17. Telecom Brand Leadership
• A robust brand identity and clear
architecture
• Lifestyle/ Emotional connections with
target markets
• Perceived or Real quality means brand
leadership
– Deliver quality as defined by subscribers and
communicate it
• Aspirational image
• Innovation leadership and Perception
• Align the organization behind the brand
– Deliver on your brand covenant/ promise
• Brand is more than products
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

18. Telecom Brand Leadership
• A strong play in the mass market with
differentiation strategy and reasonable
price premium
• 360” marketing, multiple media beyond
advertising
– Sponsorship, PR, Channel, Pricing
• Create a brand experience
– Events
– The Vodaworld
– Cadbury theme park
• Brilliant Execution and consistency
• Persistent investment
• Measure brand equity (tracking)
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

19. Brand Asset Leverage across
Africa
• Convergence and commonalities of market
segments across Africa
• Lifestyle values cuts across countries
– HNIs, youths, family, fun
• Emergence of cross-country media and spill
overs
– Satellite Pay TV- Supersports, Channel O, TV Africa
• International travels and migrations in the
continent
• International Events and Sponsorship Properties
– African Cup of Nations
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

20. Leveraging Brand Assets across
countries
• A consistent/ robust brand identity and
positioning in all markets
• International view in developing brand
campaigns (a common ad across Africa)
– Brand Strategy must be robust as to be relevant across
borders
• International Brand Management Structures
• Appoint endowed countries as centers of
excellence for experimentation and learning
• Roll out learning
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference

21. Conclusion
• A strong brand is
critical to strong
ROI and
Shareholder Value
• Build, build and
build
• Thank you
November 2002 Olu Akanmu
GSM in Africa Conference