Vodafone has recently launched a Worldwide Roaming Campaign based on the Image and Songs of Bob Marley. Looks that they have done a great work with it but, is it really worth? Doesn´t it make more sense to adapt the campaigns locally in order to fit better with the target Group? How far should a Headquarter go in defining ATL campaigns?

Let me start with the campaign itself and the circumstances around it, before analyzing whether it really makes sense or not.

The campaign has been launched by Vodafone, one of the biggest Mobile Companies in the World, that boast of having the widest International presence (directly and indirectly) in the industry. Thus Roaming seems to be a key proposition for this Company, as long as it reinforces its positioning and is used by intensive and high–end users.

In order to meet its customers´expectations., Vodafone launched two years ago a differentiating roaming service called Passport, that gave the customer his local tariff + an additional set up cost while using his phone in a foreign country. This summer Vodafone has introduced some changes in the tariff (basically an extension of the countries where the Passport tariff applies), and had to do something big around it. An outstanding ATL campaign was a must!

The next decision to be taken was how to go ahead with it. Hitherto, the Headquarter decided to cover directly key locations in ATL campaigns (such as Heathrow Airport at London) while leaving up to the local countries what to do. However, on this occasion the Group decided to go with something different and launch the above mentioned worldwide campaign.

The campaign had to be innovative + catchy + fresh + coherent with the values conveyed by the brand. Moreover, an additional value for handling the campaign centrally was demanded by the national companies. After checking different proposals they decided to go with a risky one: Revitalize Bob Marley and get him into roaming. Thought and done: They spoke to the son of Bob Marley, got the rights of one of Bob´s best known songs, and ask the former to sing and record it for Vodafone. The outcome is what you can see on tv, other media and Internet across Europe.

Do International ATL campaigns make sense in Multinational Companies? I guess it depends. Key thing is how far a message + creativity can go internationally. In this case the results are yet to be seen. So far a lot of buzz + enthusiasm + publicity have been generated. Hope that Passport is to eventually have the same worldwide success as Bob Marley´s song!

Think Different!!!

Ignacio Gafo