Sponsorship: MTN and manner of giving back

By Princewill Ekwujuru

Sponsorship is the fastest growing form of marketing globally. Therefore the primary reason companies include sponsorship as part of their marketing plans is to increase brand awareness, whether it’s establishing or strengthening the brand, or to change their brand image that subsists.

However, by associating a brand with an event or entity that the target audience views positively is by way of shaping attitudes and helping to generate a positive reaction to the brand. Ultimately, the goal is to  improve how a brand is perceived by its target audience. This happens in a variety of ways.

For this reason a brand needs to build relevant memory structures that make it easier to notice, recognise, recall and hence…. of course…buy. This is the brand’s mental availability. several other brands have keyed into this phrase to strengthen and build top- of- the- mind- brand.

MTN Nigeria recently sponsored 12 of its loyal and committed customers to this year’s hajj to fulfil their religious obligations afore the disheartening occurrence of the stampede in Saudi Arabia.

Like every other years the ICT Company sponsors 12 lucky winners to participate in this yearly pilgrimage, before the unpleasant incident of the stampede in Saudi Arabia. The incident brought the total number of casualty to 700, with the Nigerian pilgrims sharing in the scores of those that died while observing and fulfilling their Islamic rite, which is a commandment in the Holy Quran.

Speaking during the arrival of the winners, the General Manager, Consumer Marketing; Richard Iweanoge condoled with the families of the departed saying it is a great loss not just for their immediate families but also for the entire country. ‘’ We sympathize with the families of those who lost their life while fulfilling the Islamic rite of hajj, and also welcome back other pilgrims who made it back into the country with their spiritual experience from the holy land” he said .

He further stated that MTN Nigeria has made it a yearly commitment to connect and reward Muslims customers who have subscribed to various Islamic contents. ‘’ The rationale behind this is to educate and broaden the knowledge of our Muslim customers especially during the season of umrah and hajj”.

The leading ICT operator organized a seminar for all the 12 winners before their departure to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage. The convener of the seminar; Usthaz Suleiman Felani explained in details all that the winners need to know and do when they arrive Saudi Arabia. In his presentation, he advised the pilgrims on what to wear, as there won’t be any need to dress gorgeously but rather focus on the pilgrim to the holy land. This according to him is to explain the simplicity of life.

He preceded his over two hour lecture with visuals for better understanding of the hajj pilgrimage. The General Manager, Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria, Richard Iweanoge, explained that the tactical objective for the initiative is to appreciate and give back to the subscribers who have been patronizing them since inception.

“It is part of our core value to touch life and improve the overall wellbeing of our esteemed subscribers by a way of proposing customer-centric offerings that will positively affect every facet of their existence”. He further stated that “The hajj sponsorship and the discounted rate offerings are part of the rewards to appreciate our Muslim subscribers during this season”

Speaking further on how the 12 winners were selected for this year Hajj and Umrah trip to Saudi Arabia Iweanoge stated that  the subscribers were selected on the heelss of regular subscriptions of Islamic contents    such as devotionals, Islamic quotes, sermons, Islamic songs, prayers, Islamic callertunez and other spiritually uplifting and faith enriching contents they subscribed to.

“It is a reward for their dedication to our services that we decided to appreciate our customers and express how important they are to us. We will keep going the extra mile to show just how much we care,” he says.

Meanwhile, some of the winners who could not hide their excitement and the rare privilege offered to them by MTN thanked the leading ICT operator for constantly committing itself to the need of every Nigerians regardless of ethnical or religious background. They also appreciated MTN for sponsoring them in an all expense trip to the holy land of Meccah.

One of the beneficiaries, Mohammed Tanko Ganguli, an indigene of Kano who said he never believed he could ever visit the Holy land to fulfill his religious obligation lauds MTN for this uncommon initiative. “In all the 5 pillars of Islam, the only one that seems to be so challenging to me is embarking on Hajj and Umrah, and for MTN taking it upon itself to sponsor me in an all expense trip to Saudi Arabia is something I will forever be grateful for” he said.

Also speaking, another beneficiary Jafar Ahmed a business man from Ogun State commended MTN for its effort in helping him achieve his dream of participating in this year hajj.

Ahmed who claimed he subscribes to the Islamic contents so he could be a better Muslim said he did not know he would be rewarded. “Improving my faith in Islam is something I always look forward to, and so I subscribed to Islamic quote, sermon, prayers and sometime Islamic songs. All these contents act as a booster to my spiritual life; the more I read the more my knowledge in Islam.”

Meanwhile, MTN visited various Hajj camp across the country and distributed over 20,000 travel kits including bags, money waist pouch, bathroom slippers and free MTN SIMs card. Interestingly, MTN has also slashed its Data, Call and SMS rates to Saudi Arabia.  MTN customers can browse for as low as 1kobo per kilobyte, make and receive calls for as low as N35 per minute, send text messages for N30 per SMS and receive SMS for free while roaming in Saudi Arabia.