‘Text messaging is the best way to communicate with people abroad’

You recently launched GEM. What is GEM and how did you arrive at the codename ‘GEM?’We called it GEM. We had gone through a lot of names here. GEM is like a stone like a ruby or sapphire or diamond. Also GEM resonates with us because of the idea of Going the Extra Mile, GEM. […]

You recently launched GEM. What is GEM and how did you arrive at the codename ‘GEM?’
We called it GEM. We had gone through a lot of names here. GEM is like a stone like a ruby or sapphire or diamond. Also GEM resonates with us because of the idea of Going the Extra Mile, GEM. It just kind of symbolizes what we stand for. The company has been going for 5 years. And in the scheme of global telecoms, when you look at the success of Etisalat in Nigeria, it is truly phenomenal to come in as the fourth player, five years after the other players were here and establish yourself in such a significant way on the landscape. We are now at 14 per cent share, we have got 17 million customers, it is a truly remarkable success.

Why GEM at this time?
Business is fast moving these days, and so, almost everything you do is very quickly followed or copied. So, whilst you see that as innovative what we are doing with the GEM program, in a competitive market, people are going to copy this thing. At its core, it is just about saying that we appreciate customers and we are going to continue doing the right things for customers which is service marketing, part of what we need to do. Building awareness of a specific program, offering shopping vouchers, health checks, VIP tickets in Barcelona and so on, is not really going to be so important. The fact that customers see us overall as the most customer-focused company is important.
What does GEM offer your customer on roaming?
They can roam for free when they are overseas, particularly at the top destinations, six top destinations for roamers. UK, US, South Africa, UAE and obviously Saudi Arabia has a seasonal orientation, particularly around Hajj. Netherlands would probably surprise you; I think it is due to the flight patterns as some of the airlines fly into Amsterdam, that means quite a lot of people go through Schiphol. So that is why it is a top destination for us. If you’ve got a 5,000-naira balance on your top-up when you’re in these destinations, the inbound calls that you receive are free, rather than charging you for these inbound calls. So that helps people keep in touch, feel more comfortable and having their phones on rather than switching off and worrying so much about roaming charges.

For the free medical check-up and Barcelona benefits, how do you intend to inform the Etisalat customers?
When people are overseas often, SMS is a good way to communicate with them because with time zone differences, people’s kind of work and sleeping patterns, from my experience it is often good to SMS rather than call them. The plan is to contact them and let them know about the opportunities beforehand. So that is why we are publicising, so then they can say, ‘Oh, I am going to Barcelona, let me see if there is a match; let me see if I can get a ticket.’ They phone our customer service and we organize it for them.
Also for High Value customers, we will be organising shopping vouchers. Again, this is an opportunity that we got by working with other big brands. We can provide discounted vouchers.