TheCable

Airtel Nigeria has launched a new television commercial to boost its campaign on data reliability.

The commercial tagged “The Rainmaker” was unveiled at an event which held at Ebony Life Place in Victoria Island, Lagos.

The telco said the commercial was produced in collaboration with Noah’s Ark Communications, its advertising consultant; Ark Resources Entertainment, a film production company; and Soul Tracker.

The commercial, which starred Jide Kosoko and Jude Chukwuka, Nollywood actors, shows a traditional setting where a king hosted a significant event in an open space.

As the event unfolded, rain began and the king’s rainmaker was called to take action in ending the rainstorm.

After some chants, the rain stopped but only for a short while as the clouds gathered again and led to a heavy downpour.

This disrupted the king’s event and ridiculed him in the presence of other invited guests.

The two-minute commercial ended with the rainmaker constructing a shelter to be used in hosting the king’s event as against use of open space which was unreliable.

Prior to “The Rainmaker”, Airtel has produced several commercials including Boo, Mechanic, Mama Rainbow’s Stew and Port Tailor.

In his presentation, Tokunbo Adodo, vice president of brands and marketing communications for Airtel, said the commercial is “100 percent Nigerian from the concept to location, directing, production, and song”.

Adodo said the commercial does not seek to undermine traditional rainmakers in the country but it focuses on telling the story of a rainmaker who proved unreliable.

He added that the commercial is hinged on Nigeria’s cultural diversity, with the aim to celebrate the country’s rich cultural heritage, whilst communicating the essence of staying connected as a people.

“Airtel is an incredibly consumer-centric brand and this commercial is about what drives our customers. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted our lives as humans and essentially impacted our ability to connect with one another physically. However, the internet gave us an avenue to connect, which is why Airtel, more than ever is committed to making life easier for our consumers through innovation,” he said.

“This commercial also accentuates our drive to provide innovative products and services. We came up with an extremely bold statement saying data is life; hence our unconventional approaches when it comes to innovation. The services we offer our customers, as well as the stories we tell are all driven by innovation and all our offerings bear eloquent testimony to this.

“We are a telco. Some telcos will get offended if you talk about reliability or inconsistency, does that mean every telco is inconsistent and unreliable? This story is about this rainmaker who was inconsistent and unreliable, it is not about that entire field of work. It is just a story about this rainmaker,” he said.

Present at the unveiling was Dinesh Balsingh, chief commercial officer for Airtel Nigeria; Emeka Okpara, director of corporate communications and CSR for Airtel Nigeria; among other top executives.

In his remarks, Okpara said Airtel Nigeria is inspired by people and their stories backed with evidence.

He said the telco has continued to prove itself as a reliable data and communications company.

“At Airtel Nigeria, we are inspired by people and their stories and we love to tell compelling stories that connect with emotions and the heart. Airtel is also inspired by the beautiful Nigerian culture and we will continue to celebrate our different cultures just as we have done with the rainmaker TVC,” he said.

“However, the difference is that whatever story we tell at Airtel, we back it up with evidence. I will give just one example to illustrate this point. In 2018, we started rolling out 4G in Nigeria and today SpeedTest Intelligence, a global platform for measuring mobile Internet speed, has rated Airtel the best Mobile Internet Operation in Q1 2021 in Nigeria.”

In 2020, Airtel Nigeria won a total of 20 awards at the Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival Awards (LAIF), an award platform designed to recognise creative excellence as well as promote excellence in the field of advertising and marketing communications.