Thailand's telecommunication market is dominated by a small number of brands who differentiate by showcasing and communicating their advanced 5G technologies, and pushing this message through strong distribution channels. As a smaller network with unique challenges, DTAC needed a different way to cut through.

DTAC suffered a very public and embarrassing setback in December 2020. As the government released access to financial support during COVID, the influx of traffic overwhelmed the network resulting in many DTAC consumers being unable to claim the limited government support. Understandably users were livid.

DTAC apologised and took full responsibility including compensating its users. However, the damage was done. Poor perception had spread far and fast about DTAC’s network reliability and brand credibility. Many thought network recovery was impossible and the brand was finished.

Beyond the brand challenge, the country and the people faced a huge hurdle as they move into a period of post-COVID recovery. But this isn’t an even handed recovery, rather one that favoured the large high volume brands that have the resources to spend on marketing. The small businesses that suffered during COVID, and which DTAC had unjustly punished, are now again at a disadvantage.

DTAC - #GoodForALL

In March 2021, DTAC introduced the 700MHz network upgrades. Unlike the limited range and coverage of the 5G networks that their competitors were focused on, 700MHz allowed for improved network coverage and quality for its users – regardless of handset type and of location. Yes, even rural customers saw the benefit.

DTAC saw the opportunity to take this further by not only guaranteeing service and coverage in every location. The strategy was simple: TRANSFORM the loyalty program from the traditional EXCLUSIVITY focus that prioritises high value customers, and instead focus on INCLUSIVITY by making sure that all customers felt the value of being part of the DTAC community. This meant:

- Reward our Small Business Customers by Giving them more business

- Reward our Consumers by giving them deals at the small businesses near them

To further support their goal, DTAC had to make sure that people knew about the loyalty campaign, and could both find and access the newly available rewards. This meant TRANSFORMING their loyalty app to a marketing app that promotes every small business in a way that would be relevant and targeted to the DTAC customer.