Airtel took no chances and swiped a jab at Safaricom’s Mpesa down time taking place over the weekend. In a new, cunning and provocative advertisement, placed in the Airtel’s social media pages on Friday 17th April 2015, Airtel threw a punch at its greatest competitor – a move that has sparked varied reactions on social media.
To some, this was a great move by Airtel which is Safaricom’s greatest competition. The ad was perceived as normal healthy competition between rivals. Here’s what online users had to say on Facebook:
Others thought the Airtel ad was too opportunistic and a “low blow” to Safaricom’s efforts to upgrade its Mpesa service. Here’s what the users had to say:
Supremacy wars over market share between the two rival telecoms has been a common place over the past decade. According to the latest Communications Authority of Kenya report, Airtel increased its subscriber base market share from 16.5% (5.40 million subscribers) to 22.6% (7.61 million subscribers), while Safaricom still maintains a lead market share of 67.4% (22.66 million subscribers).
