Cell C has launched a new brand campaign and pay-off-line – Change Your World – which is set to position the mobile operator as a challenger brand with a distinctive lighthouse identity.
The through the line campaign consists of a 90 second film and various cut downs as well as a strong focus on digital, out of home and print.
Changing the narrative
Explaining the narrative, Hazel Chimhandamba, Executive Head of Marketing says: “The film opens on a cute but tough-as-nails young girl, growing up with two brothers. All her life she believes that everything her brothers can do; she can do better. We see her watching them as they leave her out of their activities, but also as she competes with them at a game of football.
“This is where we see her love for the game start to develop. Determined to live her dreams, the young woman starts working towards her goal of one day exceeding all expectations and norms – challenging the status quo and becoming the first female coach to lead a professional male football team to victory in a major championship final.
“The film follows the young woman over years, as she puts in the hard work, long hours and dedication. She develops her coaching style and the trust of her players – all while reflecting on how, as a girl, she was underestimated. The success of her brothers has motivated her to push harder and prove the world wrong. Ultimately, we see her becoming the master of changing her world,” says Chimhandamba.
While the campaign execution touches on a key societal issue, namely gender equality and destroying patriarchy, the overarching message is about breaking down stereotypes, shifting from the expected and venturing into an unexpected territory and striving to win against all odds.
The business strategy of change
Likewise, Cell C embarked on its own change journey two years ago navigating a turnaround strategy to return it to profitability, position itself to be competitive, take advantage of the changing landscape and be a sustainable business.
“This is much like how Cell C is moving towards becoming more than just a telco and offering our customers differentiated value propositions as seen in recent months,” says Simo Mkhize, Chief Commercial Officer at Cell C.
“As a business Cell C faced a cross-road – our industry requires continuous investment in costly infrastructure which offers diminishing returns for operators. We needed to rethink the evolution of the ‘network’ and realised that infrastructure investment will not be a differentiator for Cell C. What our customers want is great value propositions and exceptional service made possible by the infrastructure,” says Mkhize.
In January 2021, Cell C started the implementation of this new network strategy, adopting an approach to partner with the best-of-breed on both infrastructure and services. The strategy will enable the company to provide network services to customers via roaming agreements, while continuing to offer a full Cell C customer experience.
Explains Mkhize, “Data has become a commodity that gives customers access to the services they want. By turning data or voice into value added services, customers use every day, providers can regain consumers trust.”
It is this perspective to change that has been core to the shifts Cell C has made to the way it does business.
“We are reinventing ourselves and redefining how we compete, our turnaround is yielding results and earned us the right to grow. We have the right team in place and are eager to contribute more to South Africa’s digital ecosystem,” added CEO, Douglas Craigie Stevenson.
A new pay-off-line
The new pay-off-line, Change Your World, contextualises that it is not about your physical attributes or where you come from that will change your world, but rather your inner desire to strive for more, how you use what you have and relentlessly pursuing your dreams.
The campaign, aims to position Cell C as a brand that understands consumer needs, changes and grows with them, looks out for them, and gives them value beyond just megs and minutes. Like the average South African, Cell C has been through tough times and aims to inspire customers as they too can relate to the spirit of resilience.
“Cell C is all about showing customers that we are a brand that will help them progress in life, take control and ownership and help them make the changes work for them. We are executing our turnaround strategy and are working hard to position ourselves for long-term success. The change has enabled us to be more competitive and we are adapting to the evolving telecoms landscape,” concludes Mkhize.
