I noticed a fantastic Nokia billboard yesterday while driving around Maputo Province on several farm visits. Someone in their marketing department has caught on to the idea that cell phones in Africa many times serve a very important dual function: not only are they used to communicate, they are used as a source of light.
The ad features the image of two people riding bicycles along a dusty road in the night. You can barely make out their silhouettes, but the path in front of the bicycles is nicely illuminated by what looks to be a headlamp.
The text at the top of the billboard is as follows:
É humano ver para onde se vai.
Por isso a Nokia desenha telefones com lanterna.
(It's human to see where one is going. That's why Nokia designs telephones with flashlights.)
The ad then goes on to list three features of the cell phones:
- Long-life battery
- Flashlight with just one press of a button
- Anti-dust coating
I find it beyond cool that Nokia has created such a spot-on campaign for the reality of cell phone use in Mozambique.
6 comments:
Hello, I have been lurking here for several months, and I truly enjoy reading your posts about life in the US, Brazil and Africa. I thought that I would comment now because I do feel badly for the guys you work with in the warehouse. I very much hope that it works out for them, have you heard any definitive news regarding the import of the produce that will affect their positions? Good luck to them.
Nokia are very good at international marketing, that's why they are vastly popular in the Middle East and Africa.
Plus they featured a hijab wearing woman in their lasted advert, so I'm a fan.
That is really cool! I love how different people's needs are. But I'm still glad to be out of the ad business. :-)
Hey, I'm applying to grad school!
~Southern Goddess - So glad you delurked!! I am still getting more information about the boys' situation at work, but for now it seems their jobs are okay. Different, but okay...
~Safiya Outlines - I'd love to see the advert you reference. There should be a site that showcases all of the best in international culturally-tailored media...
~Rrramone - Yeah, I can imagine it would be a difficult industry to be in. How cool you're applying to grad school? Where and what do you want to study????
Just applying to schools in the Dallas area (SMU, UNT, UTD, TCU) and I'm going for an MFA in Painting. :-)
p.s. Was in Austin this weekend!!
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