#bring men home fiber advertisement.
In 2019, Safaricom wanted to advertise their Safaricom fiber service in platforms connected
to the internet. These platformes included ecomerce controversial etc. they did this by
recording an advertisement with a controversial joke which was “controversial”. In Kenya,
many men love watching football in bars during the weekends and not spending time with
their wife and children. It is not a serious issue currently which is why Safaricom thought
that it will be appropriate to make a joke about men spending more time watching football
and drinking instead of spending time with their families. The advertisement starts with
Safaricom saying how men are disappearing from their homes across the city and going to
bars to watch football. They then say that this “phenomenon” can be changed or avoided by
purchasing the Safaricom fiber service. They claimed that for as little as 2900 KES, you can
purchase the Safaricom fiber internet service and bring your men back home so that they
can watch their football games at home through the internet.
I personally found the advertisement memorable because most brands currently refrain
from discussing negative issues let alone making a joke out of negative issues that some
people go through. This is because they will risk damaging their brand which will lead to
loosing customer loyalty and other factors that will affect the business negatively. Safaricom
however took the risk of making a joke out of a relatively serious situation because the
response can either be very positive or very negative. The advertisement in general was
received well form potential consumers because in the Safaricom YouTube page the
advertisement currently has 381 likes, 195 dislikes and 176,649 views. Majority of the public
liked the advertisement and most likely found it memorable. This worked in Safaricom’s
favor because the advertisement contributed to the drastic increase in sales from 2018 to
2019. according to the Safaricom’s 2019 annual report, the number of homes passed (the
number of homes that could connect to Safaricom fiber) where 142,100,000 homes while
the number of homes that where connected to Safaricom where 48,600 homes. In 2019, the
number of houses passed more than doubled reaching 297,900 homes due to the increased
spending on fiberoptic cables infostructure in more areas in Nairobi. This led to the number
of homes connected to increase to 107,800 houses. I also believe that advertising them on
the internet was effective because many people will share the advertisement in their
personal social media. This is bound to happen because of how unconventional and
outstanding the advertisement was. This will increase the coverage for Safaricom’s
advertising without Safaricom’s financial input which will lead to a raise in more people
viewing the video and less costs. This will be even more effective if the individual has a large
following.
Even though the Safaricom home fiber advertisement was generally received well by the
public, there was also a significant number of citizens that took the advertisement too
seriously. The YouTube video and twitter video have several comments criticizing the
message that Safaricom is trying to communicate. The twitter page had comments like
“Does he have to be mine to begin with or I can bring home any that needs internet? Also,
how many men am I limited to? Does he/ Do they expire like bundles? Is he useful or just sits
there using my net? If I get tired of him, will disconnecting the internet get him to leave?” or
“Safaricom surely you over charge me and then laugh at my pathetic situation.” comments
like these indicate that some individuals took the advertisement to literally and missed the
joke behind it. The advertisement therefore offended some Safaricom customers which
then lowered their customer loyalty and potential sales.
In 2019, Safaricom wanted to advertise their Safaricom fiber service in platforms connected
to the internet. These platformes included ecomerce controversial etc. they did this by
recording an advertisement with a controversial joke which was “controversial”. In Kenya,
many men love watching football in bars during the weekends and not spending time with
their wife and children. It is not a serious issue currently which is why Safaricom thought
that it will be appropriate to make a joke about men spending more time watching football
and drinking instead of spending time with their families. The advertisement starts with
Safaricom saying how men are disappearing from their homes across the city and going to
bars to watch football. They then say that this “phenomenon” can be changed or avoided by
purchasing the Safaricom fiber service. They claimed that for as little as 2900 KES, you can
purchase the Safaricom fiber internet service and bring your men back home so that they
can watch their football games at home through the internet.
I personally found the advertisement memorable because most brands currently refrain
from discussing negative issues let alone making a joke out of negative issues that some
people go through. This is because they will risk damaging their brand which will lead to
loosing customer loyalty and other factors that will affect the business negatively. Safaricom
however took the risk of making a joke out of a relatively serious situation because the
response can either be very positive or very negative. The advertisement in general was
received well form potential consumers because in the Safaricom YouTube page the
advertisement currently has 381 likes, 195 dislikes and 176,649 views. Majority of the public
liked the advertisement and most likely found it memorable. This worked in Safaricom’s
favor because the advertisement contributed to the drastic increase in sales from 2018 to
2019. according to the Safaricom’s 2019 annual report, the number of homes passed (the
number of homes that could connect to Safaricom fiber) where 142,100,000 homes while
the number of homes that where connected to Safaricom where 48,600 homes. In 2019, the
number of houses passed more than doubled reaching 297,900 homes due to the increased
spending on fiberoptic cables infostructure in more areas in Nairobi. This led to the number
of homes connected to increase to 107,800 houses. I also believe that advertising them on
the internet was effective because many people will share the advertisement in their
personal social media. This is bound to happen because of how unconventional and
outstanding the advertisement was. This will increase the coverage for Safaricom’s
advertising without Safaricom’s financial input which will lead to a raise in more people
viewing the video and less costs. This will be even more effective if the individual has a large
following.
Even though the Safaricom home fiber advertisement was generally received well by the
public, there was also a significant number of citizens that took the advertisement too
seriously. The YouTube video and twitter video have several comments criticizing the
message that Safaricom is trying to communicate. The twitter page had comments like
“Does he have to be mine to begin with or I can bring home any that needs internet? Also,
how many men am I limited to? Does he/ Do they expire like bundles? Is he useful or just sits
there using my net? If I get tired of him, will disconnecting the internet get him to leave?” or
“Safaricom surely you over charge me and then laugh at my pathetic situation.” comments
like these indicate that some individuals took the advertisement to literally and missed the
joke behind it. The advertisement therefore offended some Safaricom customers which
then lowered their customer loyalty and potential sales.
