Last week we published our 2012 adoption survey and we learned that there are an increasing number of success stories in the mobile money industry. We announced 14 mobile money “sprinters”, who are leading the industry. From profiling these 14 sprinters, we learned that effective marketing was consistently mentioned as a critical success factor. It shouldn’t be a surprise that marketing is important – most operators need to raise awareness quickly because they work in markets where mobile money is a completely new concept and customers are reticent to give up cash. This was certainly the case for Orange Madagascar, one of the 14 sprinters, when they first launched Orange Money in 2010.
When Orange Money launched, Orange needed to raise awareness quickly and position Orange Money as the “easiest solution for everyday use.” Orange’s goal was to convince customers that Orange Money was a better alternative to cash. This is a particularly difficult job in Madagascar, which is ranked 177th in GDP per capita according to the IMF. Cash is not just important in Madagascar; it’s tough to come by, so an average person’s willingness to give it up is very low.
Understanding the market context in Madagascar, Orange developed a marketing strategy specifically to overcome this cash-based barrier. They created a launch campaign with three objectives:
(1) Introduce mobile money
(2) Explain the product offering
(3) Advise users on the benefits of the service
This is exactly what ATL campaigns should be doing. We consistently encourage operators to create hard-working ATL that will raise awareness and push customers along the first critical steps of the customer journey. However, what we didn’t expect was that a potato would be the cornerstone to that hardworking ATL strategy. That’s right, a potato.
It’s a pleasure to introduce Mr. Patate, the face of Orange Money in Madagascar. Mr. Patate was developed in conjunction with Orange’s advertising agency, Facto Saatchi & Saatchi in Madagascar. His purpose was to become a conduit to create awareness and educate customers on the benefits of mobile money. It worked. Like many beloved mascots, Mr. Patate has become practically a household name in Madagascar, so much so that you can buy a handmade Mr. Patate doll at the local market, not to mention consistently high awareness ratings from Orange’s quarterly brand tracker. Moreover, Mr. Patate’s effectiveness has also been recognized internationally, including winning one of the Best Film awards from the Publicis Groupe and winning Best Communication for Orange Money from France Telecom. This isn’t the only key for success at Orange Madagascar, but Mr. Patate is helping Orange introduce customers to the concept of mobile money.
So, why is Mr. Patate so effective?
First, let’s look how he is designed. The Mr. Patate mascot was created in Orange’s trademark colour and the overall imagery of the television commercial fits within Orange’s brand strategy. While branding might seem subtle, it’s an important success factor because it allows Orange Money to leverage on the strength of the Orange brand.
Second, Orange created Mr. Patate to be a friendly, trustworthy image that customers can learn from. Take the TV ad campaign as an example. Mr. Patate, using minimal messaging, shows us the pain points of sending money via bush taxi versus the simplicity of sending money using Orange Money. Ta da. Mr. Patate has given customers both a value proposition and a use case.
Third, it’s not only how Orange he is and the messaging he shares, but Mr. Patate is part of a greater marketing strategy to create consistency in the customer experience. Mr. Patate is not just a TV campaign, a radio ad or part of a BTL campaign – he’s all three. Orange uses the same jingle and voiceover in their TV and radio ads. They also have made Mr. Patate the main character in their educational booklets distributed during BTL campaigns and available at agent points. This co-ordinated approach meant that Mr. Patate could be used across channels to reinforce consistency in customer experience.
A “Mr. Patate” will not work in every market with every operator, but his lessons certainly can be applied. Orange Money was able to develop a cohesive ATL & BTL strategy, leverage their brand and create an image that educated and informed potential users on the benefits of a new service. As operators seek to move customers along the complicated customer journey, it’s important to understand what will resonate with your target audience and how that will fit with your overall messaging. In other words, what’s going to be your Mr. Patate?