One of the challenges that face companies marketing to an informal sector is the lack of customer knowledge. The prepaid market is dominated by cash being exchanged in very informal spaces which means that often the customer, their demographics and purchase history are never recorded.
A company in the agricultural sector approached Globetom on behalf of their customer, a seed distribution company with an idea to run an SMS competition in Zambia that would help them identify their customers and capture their details for future marketing communication.
Globetom provided the customer with a solution to assist them in collecting customer information in the informal, prepaid market in which they operate. This was done through an SMS competition enabled by Globetom’s Federated Messaging and Collaboration (FMC) and Revenue Weaver solutions.
With the FMC platform Globetom set up a Short Code that customers could message into, and an SMS channel in order to deliver airtime pins back to the customer as a reward. Globetom’s Revenue Weaver platform was used for electronic prepaid distribution in Zambia and was used to record their client information and generate electronic voucher pins for two and five Kwacha that was sent to customers. Revenue Weaver then provided the customer detailed reporting on when vouchers were redeemed, where and by whom.
The solution allowed the customer to run a competition where their clients could receive free airtime when they SMSed the unique code, found on the inside of the purchased seed bag, along with their name and location. At the same time, it allowed the customer to gather their client information they needed for marketing purposes. With the FMC platform Globetom set up a Short Code that their clients could message into, and an SMS channel in order to deliver airtime pins back to their client as a reward.
This solution is an example of Globetom’s platform innovation where Revenue Weaver and FMC platforms were readily leveraged for incremental customer pull innovation. Globetom was able to quickly meet the customer’s requirements by leveraging existing technology. Additionally, due to Globetom’s very high degree of IPR ownership with limited third party supplier costs, Globetom was able to offer the customer a cost-effective solution.
Globetom’s Revenue Weaver, which amongst others, delivers a loyalty and voucher management solution and the FMC platform enabled the customer to gather customer information such as gender, age, usage patterns, geographic location and customers’ variety preferences. This assisted them to build a credible client database and improve their ability to market and sell to their customers.