Etisalat wins at Effie Awards 2012

Etisalat Lanka finished off a big year for the company by winning five Effie Awards, which was the highest, at the Effie Awards 2012.

This year has seen Etisalat introduce new cutting-edge technology into the market and drive innovative campaigns that enrich customer experiences and empower people around the country.

The two Silvers were awarded for Etisalat’s ‘Play’ and ‘Easy Loan’ Campaigns, which the ‘Android’, ‘Northern SIM’ and ‘Web Patashala’ campaigns, each won a Bronze.

The Silver-winning ‘Play’ campaign was designed to interest the younger audience in the market, users between 18 and 25. Launched in May 2012 and the objective of ‘Play’ was to engage the target audience and introduce new pricing plans to them that complied with their needs.

Communication was done via a TV commercial, radio and other innovative engagement activities like the ‘Game zone’ and the ‘Etisalat: Twitter Premier League 2012’, which was a cricket tournament organised for Sri Lankan Twitter users. In its two-month time span, the ‘Play’ campaign, successfully decreased Etisalat’s churn level by approximately 65% within that target audience.

Etisalat’s ‘Easy Loan’ campaign, which won them the second Silver Effie, launched a new service for prepaid users, that gave them credit loan plans to select from when low on credit. Titled ‘Mad Dash’ and launched in June 2011, the campaign was communicated via TV, Radio and Outdoor advertising, and was well received by the customer base.

Winning Bronze was Etisalat’s revolutionary e-learning platform, ‘Web Patashala,’ an interactive e-learning tool in partnership with the State Trading Corporation (STC) and the Ministry of Education. Launched in March 2012 to meet the education needs of parents, teachers and students all over the country, the campaign was conducted through mainstream advertising and 40 seminars that were held around Sri Lanka.

In addition to providing an education resource that aligned with the national curriculum and was accessible from anywhere in the country, Web Patashala also successfully changed the mindsets of people and exposed them to the power of mobile broadband connectivity.

Etisalat’s ‘Northern SIM’ and ‘Android’ also won two Bronze Effies. ‘Northern SIM’ addressed the needs of the Northern Region by offering a SIM that operated in the language predominantly used in the Region, thereby, empowering them to communicate. The main communication was done through TVCs and succeeded in doubling monthly acquisition in the region after its launch in March 2012. ‘Android’ was launched in November 2011 to leverage the power of the Android platform to boost connectivity and increase broadband subscription, while providing exposure and marketing opportunities to local App Developers. The campaign succeeded in increasing data usage penetration among the Etisalat customer base from 1.5% to 35%.

“It is a proud moment for all us here at Etisalat. This has been an exciting year for us, in which we have introduced many new innovations to the market, including that of DC HSPA+ technology. Beyond the success of each campaign, collectively, we have managed to empower more and more people with the power of communication and broadband technology while adding value to communities around the country with programs like Web Patashala,” said Etisalat Lanka Chief Executive Officer/Director Dumindra Ratnayaka. Commenting on the five Awards, Etisalat Lanka Chief Commercial Officer Robert Lee said: “There is a tremendous amount of research and planning that goes into making a product, service or campaign effective and making sure the intended impact is made. We are honoured to be recognised for this.”