Chapter 16 - Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Promotion

Advertising

Digicel takes advantage of the traditional media and has publications of promotions, new products, community involvement, other exciting news etc., in the major News papers, radio stations, magazines as well as TV ads.

·        TV Adverts- for major promotions and sponsorships, e.g. Christmas promotion.

·       Radio- Bi weekly PR slots, discussing new products & services or promoting a specific product or service.

·         Print- Bi Weekly Press releases or adverts on exciting news, products, promotions

·         Magazines- One page advert in local magazines as and when needed.

Online Advertising

 

 

 

Digicel recognizes the benefit of online advertising in that it allows the immediate publishing of information and content that is not limited by geography or time. Online advertising allows for the customization of advertisements, including content and posted websites.  Through its company website and Social media, online advertising allows the company a cheaper option when compared to television, radio, print etc, to create awareness of its products & services and major promotions.

 

Online advertisements also offers the company various forms of animation; comprising all sorts of banner, e-mail, in-game, and keyword advertising, with the inclusion of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Web-related advertising allows for a variety of ways to publicize and reach a niche audience and helps the company to focus its attention to a specific group when needed.

 

The other benefits of online advertising the company has cited are reduced costs compared to traditional media and that it offers Measurability; everything can be tracked using traffic analysis tools like Google Analytics, etc.

 

 

 

Promotions

Digicel offers many promotions to both prepaid and postpaid customers geared at encouraging brand loyalty and sustainability.   Digicel has a very active promotion schedule both below the line targeted at tiered groups of customers e.g. low spenders, non data users, etc. as well as above the line for all customers.

Most prepaid promotions are geared towards encouraging top up and spend.  For example;

·         Top Up X amount and get a chance to WIN a price or get X amount bonus credit.

·         May a call or send a Text and get a chance to WIN a specific prize or get Free credit

·         Top up an incremental value and get FREE Weekends

Many of these prepaid promotions are done below the line and are for segmented customers including:

·         Customers who spend below X amount

·         Customers who have data handsets but never activated data plans

Postpaid promotions are mainly geared to get customers to pay their bills in full and on time.  For example:

·         Pay your bill in full and on time and get a chance to WIN a weekend for two

·         Pay your bill in full and by the due date and get X amount of Free minutes.

Other promotions are based around encouraging customers to use a particular product or service.  For example to increase SMS (text) revenue and usage, the company employs many “Text to WIN” interactive promotions.  One of the more popular one’s being a question and answer game format and the customer replying correctly to the most questions wins the grand prize.  Each answer is classified as a text and charged at a premium rate.

                                             

Digicel’s major promotions are scheduled around major holidays like Jazz, Carnival and the much anticipated Christmas promotions where all customers stand a chance to win grand prizes like, vehicles, land, all expense paid vacations, etc.