South African mobile network provider Cell C made a very clever print ad in yesterdays Sunday Times. The company placed a full page ad on the back page of the main section, the ad was an apology letter directed at local comedian Trevor Noah from Cell C’s CEO Lars Reichelt. In the letter Reichelt addressed Trevor’s Facebook and YouTube criticism of Cell C for dropping calls and generally being awful (Watch the funny clip here).
The letter acknowledges Cell C’s flaws, and apologises to him and the South African public at large. Reichelt then goes on to show how Cell C are moving forward to make things better (They are creating a 4G network, improving call centres and billings, and point of sale systems).
To read the full ad just click on the picture above for a larger image.
Very clever!! 🙂
Hi Chris, what is your take on this? Here’s my article on Biz-Comm: http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/82/50703.html
Hi Rob,
I read your article. I can see where your coming from but personally I think this was a stunning bit of marketing. Yes some of the copy was a bit off (the bullet points) but regardless it has started a huge amount of conversation and Cell C is front of mind (mostly for being gutsy and open, not as a negative or positive thing).
I don’t know who did the campaign or who the agency is, but if I did I would be tipping my hat to them 🙂
Best,
Chris
The “apology” is a misleading PR stunt, planned since 26th June when telltrevor.co.za was registered, and a month *before* the video mentioned in the ad was uploaded (not by Trevor) to YouTube.
What’s more, their “4Gs” is not a 4G network at all, but a 3G network, and “4Gs” stands for “4 Great service, 4 Great speed”, NOT 4th Generation. Yet another LIE from Cell(c), who now think its OK to trademark the copyright symbol as part of their new logo. WTF?
Cell C should be apologizing for misleading the public, and for trying to give a false impression about their network upgrade. Their HSPA+ network is only a catch-up to the other 2 network offerings.