Neighbourhood Moroccan food marts and Chinese restaurants are these two communities’ most prosperous businesses. So, we approached Chinese restaurant owners and Moroccan Mom & Pop store proprietors in an effort to make them Vodafone’s main “ambassadors” by means of a simple “calling card”.We turned their employees’ aprons (with Vodafone’s offer printed in the groups’ native language) into a remarkably effective– and living- ad campaign.All the merchants and workers were trained and received the required promotional material to be able to explain to their compatriots the benefits of the “Mi País” discount program. The message was turned into an authentic recommendation of trust between relatives, friends and acquaintances and naturally had wide repercussions far beyond the social barriers or language barriers.

We were able to find a direct, close- up manner of getting Vodafone’s new fees before the public and overcoming the socialization difficulties of these two ethnic groups. At the start of the project, 83% of people contacted reported no knowledge of the new “Mi País” (“My Country”) campaign offers. A 10% increase in recognition among both communities would eventually result in more than 27,000 new customers (84% of the campaign’s total increase). Spontaneous applications from these and other “immigrant” establishments to the Vodafone promotional program actually tripled the business volume we had registered in our initial campaign.