Motorola's new Motobus outreach programme - an experiential marketing approach to educating the emerging market in South Africa about cell phone features and benefits - aims to unlock social development potential.
Explains Sarit Reouveni, Motorola head of marketing, South Africa, "The Motobus is essentially a travelling roadshow that aims to connect and engage with South Africans, and through this connection to train them to use cellular technology to uplift their lives, as well as those of the communities around them. We want to show South Africans how to use cellular technology to empower themselves."
Motorola's vision is to connect South Africa's unconnected communities. Demand for mobile communication has grown faster in sub-Saharan Africa than in most parts of the world. "Mobiles now account for 75% of all phone connections in 19 of the poorest African countries - and yet the proportion of people with mobile phones is still very low, at around 5%," says Stephen Nolan, Motorola general manager for southern Africa.
Through the course of 2006, the Motobus will visit hotspots throughout the country. In addition to visiting approximately 30 rural towns, it will convene at soccer matches, shopping malls and taxi ranks. The bus will be packed with entertainment and cellular technology, including 3G, SMS, music and photography, and will showcase the Motorola C-range handsets. A level one facility will offer services such as software upgrades. The Motobus experience includes celebrity entertainment, branded giveaways, and interactive gaming and music.
"Interaction with the brand is likely to reach an audience of 21 million South Africans, across a broad band of demographics," says Reouveni, who believes that growth within the South African cellular market will be largely generated by companies that make themselves accessible, both from a product and marketing point of view, to all South Africans.
"Through this initiative, we will not only demonstrate the very real advantages of cellular technology on a broad level, thereby contributing to growth and development of South Africans, but we will also really immerse the emerging market in the iconic culture of Motorola!" Reouveni concludes.
