Written by: Cyril Urbano
Our Global Brand Management group, composed of David Simons, Wan-Hsuan Luo, Jing Luo and myself, dug deep into Kenya’s mobile phone market to mine valuable insights that will set the stage for our mobile phone solution. In our research we found three compelling findings: a mobile market that is hugely growing and revolutionizing Kenyan life, human development issues that afflict the society and the rise of the informal labor sector.
With the mentioned insights, the market needs a catalyst for change. Our group proposed a mobile phone solution called, Equator M4D. It is a mobile phone for development loaded with functional and transformational features that will positively impact Kenyan life. True to its name, it boasts four features that, as one, differentiates it from the current market offerings (solar panel, flashlight, two-way radio and M-power applications). Moreover, M4D has co-branding partners that will allow for better market penetration. These partners include Coke, Pur (P&G’s water purifier), Nakumatt (a local supermarket chain) and Total.
The video below is an animated version of the television launch ad. The big idea revolves around transformation. In this ad, transformation is used as a metaphor that will drive our public messages. As Zaltman would assert in his book, Marketing Metaphoria (2008), “…transformation is an important by-product of the many experiences that drive our physical, mental, and social development.” Furthermore he asserts that it is the most pervasive deep metaphor among consumers as nearly all products facilitate a passage from one state to the other. The ad is a product of about 250 images each one painstakingly drawn, cut, arranged, moved and rearranged by our group to illustrate the big idea.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yV9kOjitrQ]
Cyril Urbano may be contacted at cyril_urbano@emerson.edu or through Facebook.
