The
first and leading telecommunications provider in Kenya.
The
account was pitched for and won on my arrival as Creative Director for
Access Leo Burnett Kenya in 2004.
Telkom Kenya brought out new call costs in Sept 2004. The brief was to inform people of the new costs pushing the costs that had reduced.
Although they had never used lifestyle advertising before, this campaign aimed to compare the value of a call against the actual cost of the call.
The Kenyan rain season of June 2004, brought less rain than was needed to sustain it's agricultural industry. As a result, a famine developed in the highlands and coastal areas.
Telkom Kenya joined the famine appeal by donating a percentage of all money taken in it's public phone booths.
These press ads ran during this appeal and the message in the LCD screen informed people of how much they had raised.
The ads increased usage of the phones and hit 20% above it's target donation. The ads did a good job of encouraging people to help without looking as though they were promoting it's public phone service.
The result of a difficult brief to remind people to pay their phone bill on time whilst explaining to them what will happen if they don't.
The ad took a very direct approach, but by spoofing "Kill Bill' it let a character move the brunt of bad news away from Telkom Kenya onto a 'friendly' character called Bill. The use of humour lightened the issue and enabled us to be to-the-point.
The concept was so well received that Telkom adopted the character for any future communication relating to their bills.