October 27, 2008
MTS Russia – SMS Game for Millions )Velti)
Title: MTS Russia – SMS Game for Millions
Brand: MTS )Mobile Telesystems)
Category: Case Study
Agency: N/A
Vendors: Velti
Region: Russia
Timeline: May – August 2008
Background:
MTS )Mobile Telesystems) is the largest mobile phone operator in Russia and the CIS, with a total consolidated subscriber base reaching 86.3 million users, 60.86 million of which are in Russia In the context of increased competition, declining ARPU and low levels of subscriber growth, MTS was looking to engage its subscribers with an innovative mobile marketing campaign with the following objectives:
- To retain existing customers
- To stabilize ARPU levels
- To increase revenue from take up of value added services and increased MOU
The solution:
- The concept of the campaign was based on a text-messaging interactive quiz with more than 2,000 entertaining questions, while also incorporating 300+ marketing questions to enable research into the MTS customer base for future marketing activities. The participant who answered the largest number of questions correctly every day would win a prize.
- The campaign also included both an interactive website and an informative mobile website, which provided detailed campaign and prize information.
- The campaign was also advertised through a TV commercial.
The campaign was the first of its kind and the largest mobile marketing campaign to ever run in the Russian Federation. Its target audience was men and women, aged 25-54, with the core segment 25-44 years old. This segment was characterized as passionate but treating promotional campaigns suspiciously, or not even noticing them. The campaign duration was from May 19 to August 31 2008.
Results:
Approximately 24,000,000 text messages were sent in the 3-month period; the average participation from the active subscribers’ base was over 5%, while the average number of consumer interactions was very high at 16.2
More than 100 winners, both male and female from all around Russia were awarded prizes, with the grand prize of $1 million awarded to a female, age 40.
Μobile operator MTS was able to gather valuable information about its subscriber base, as well as market intelligence for the first time. As this was a ground breaking campaign for Russia, it is expected to boost the use of the mobile channel as an effective marketing and advertising medium in future campaigns in this region.
Creative:
