Safaricom has progressed from being a subsidiary of Telkom back in 1997 to become the telecommunications magnate that it is today. The company has been able to be a part of our modern day culture by being able to release products and advertisements that Kenyans were able to resonate to.
Video adverts are one of the more engrossing ways to connect to your audience via traditional media and over time Safaricom has made iconic ads. The dialogue, known landmarks and the overall cinematography made this ads hard to forget. Here are some of the iconic ads they released back in the day
1. The Maasai man who saved the day
This is my favourite ad from Safaricom. It is set on the gamepark where the tour car has a breakdown and it forced the driver to approach a Maasai man at the top of a hill so as to make a phone call. The Maasai man ended up calling his support crew who end up fixing the car’s issues. It had a humorous end This highlighted Safaricom’s extensive network coverage in that wherever you are in the country, you can be able to call someone when in need.
2. Niko na Safaricom
Today, if you ask someone random person on the street about their favourite Safaricom ad, it would be this one. This ad had one of the best cinematography I’ve seen in a Kenyan ad for a while where it featured a choir on top of Mount Kenya of which the anthem became sort of an anthem for a while. If the ad ran on the TV while you are in another room, you would definitely know what it was.
3. Bringing you tomorrow today
This ad focused on showing how Safaricom as a country was focused in bringing the latest technologies to the masses. It drove the point home by showing how various Safaricom services are used by various people in the country.
4. Highlighting the green colour
Safaricom is synonymous with the green colour and the ad portrayed this perfectly. The video is in black and white but they decided to highlight the green areas in a bid to make the public associated the colour more with the company.
5. The Score
There were a series of ads the company made that featured a particular score, a classical piece, that goes very well with the various elements in the ads. My favourite among them was the friends one was intended to portray that the company aims to connect you with your friends wherever they are.
6. Animation
Safaricom started using animation ads rather recently and it ended up coming up with characters like Mazgwembe in promoting their data offerings. The best is the one about sharing data bundles where a random guy slides in to help a damsel in distress whose data balance is low.
