EcoCash Chakachaya Promotion
WINNING ALL THE WAY
EcoCash Chakachaya Promotion
WINNING ALL THE WAY
The Challenge
Faced with the challenge of a low activity ratio, the leadership on the client-side came together with Agency to brainstorm how we could get customers to use mobile money which was such a novel idea in Zimbabwe at that point. People simply didn’t care about mobile money, they had their cash and banks cards and it’s difficult to change the status quo when everything is working well.
In an effort to encourage people to transact, what came out, is something that the Zimbabwean market hadn’t seen before especially from a corporate brand like Econet. Dicomm McCann was tasked with launching the EcoCash Chakachaya Promotion. The main idea behind this campaign was that the brand wanted to reward its customers for using EcoCash to transact on their daily purchases as well as promote product uptake.
As such, we plotted on some good marketing strategies and campaign elements to promote it and engage our audience.
The Challenge
Faced with the challenge of a low activity ratio, the leadership on the client-side came together with Agency to brainstorm how we could get customers to use mobile money which was such a novel idea in Zimbabwe at that point. People simply didn’t care about mobile money, they had their cash and banks cards and it’s difficult to change the status quo when everything is working well.
In an effort to encourage people to transact, what came out, is something that the Zimbabwean market hadn’t seen before especially from a corporate brand like Econet. Dicomm McCann was tasked with launching the EcoCash Chakachaya Promotion. The main idea behind this campaign was that the brand wanted to reward its customers for using EcoCash to transact on their daily purchases as well as promote product uptake.
As such, we plotted on some good marketing strategies and campaign elements to promote it and engage our audience.
Execution
We came up with the simplest of ideas. To reward usage of the product, one had to transact (buy airtime, groceries and send money for friends and family) and they stood a chance to win. We designed the mechanics in such a way that every single day 100 people won and, in the end, a grand prize of US$100,000 was up for grabs. Ultimately, there was US$1 million up for grabs and this was a first in Zimbabwe. Since we simply had so many winners over 100 days non-stop, we decided to coin the promotional name “Chakachaya” which is colloquial for “The heat is on”. The market loved it and responded very well to this initiative which is considered one of the big factors among others, that resulted in the EcoCash success story.
We were involved in the conceptualisation and rollout of this promo.
In the build-up to the campaign launch, we proposed exciting musical concerts to draw the attention of our targeted audience.
Every week, we continued to communicate to our audience of the fabulous prizes in store for them via social media, short video animations and cool jingles from some of Zimbabwe’s finest artists. For the first draw held in Bulawayo, we organized a musical concert with Iyasa, Novuyo, Jah Prayzah and Winky D, and what an amazing turnout that was!
For Harare, on the final day of prize giveaway, we had amazing musicians such as ExQ and Ammara Brown performing live on stage.
Execution
We came up with the simplest of ideas. To reward usage of the product, one had to transact (buy airtime, groceries and send money for friends and family) and they stood a chance to win. We designed the mechanics in such a way that every single day 100 people won and, in the end, a grand prize of US$100,000 was up for grabs. Ultimately, there was US$1 million up for grabs and this was a first in Zimbabwe. Since we simply had so many winners over 100 days non-stop, we decided to coin the promotional name “Chakachaya” which is colloquial for “The heat is on”. The market loved it and responded very well to this initiative which is considered one of the big factors among others, that resulted in the EcoCash success story.
We were involved in the conceptualisation and rollout of this promo.
In the build-up to the campaign launch, we proposed exciting musical concerts to draw the attention of our targeted audience.
Every week, we continued to communicate to our audience of the fabulous prizes in store for them via social media, short video animations and cool jingles from some of Zimbabwe’s finest artists. For the first draw held in Bulawayo, we organized a musical concert with Iyasa, Novuyo, Jah Prayzah and Winky D, and what an amazing turnout that was!
For Harare, on the final day of prize giveaway, we had amazing musicians such as ExQ and Ammara Brown performing live on stage.
Results
The activity ratio and product adoption significantly jumped. More merchants signed up for EcoCash so that they would not miss this massive opportunity of people who suddenly wanted to transact with EcoCash.
As a result of the massive first-year success, the idea quickly became a brand property and since inception, this promotion has been running annually with different mechanics to cater to the evolving product.
We successfully grew the brand to become a top well-recognized mobile wallet brand in the region. Not only did we increase the brand exposure, but we did it in an exciting manner- reminding them to live life the EcoCash way. Within a few years, the brand was voted the best mobile money platform at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
Results
The activity ratio and product adoption significantly jumped. More merchants signed up for EcoCash so that they would not miss this massive opportunity of people who suddenly wanted to transact with EcoCash.
As a result of the massive first-year success, the idea quickly became a brand property and since inception, this promotion has been running annually with different mechanics to cater to the evolving product.
We successfully grew the brand to become a top well-recognized mobile wallet brand in the region. Not only did we increase the brand exposure, but we did it in an exciting manner- reminding them to live life the EcoCash way. Within a few years, the brand was voted the best mobile money platform at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
