The mobile referendum created its own publicity and turned into an advertising itself. The weekly questions triggered exciting debates on “What Turkey loves” in various media.For the first time in Turkey, mobile phone became the main channel in a brand image campaign.

724,000 people text their choices.

1 out of 10 participants officially applied for a Bonus Credit Card during the campaign. According to the post-campaign research, the claim “Bonus is my favourite credit card” increased by 7%.

Through this mobile campaign, “When it comes to credit card, I love Bonus” claim was etched in the consumers’ mind.

There was already strong brand sympathy towards Bonus. However the brand needed reassurance of this positioning in the eyes of the consumer. Our insight was: If you repeat something long enough, you take it as given. Therefore, asking Turkey every week: “When it comes to credit cards, Turkey loves Bonus card. But what else do we love?” had the same effect. “Turkey loves Bonus card” left a mark in people’s minds.We set up a mobile referendum. Every week we asked through targeted MMS, WAP/Web banners and on Internet: “When it comes to credit cards, Turkey loves Bonus. But what else Turkey loves? Blonde or brunette? Beard or moustache? Etc…”We sent MMS invitations to an opt-in database of potential credit card users to join the poll. SMS had a unique role throughout the campaign as Turkey’s favourites were identified through mobile screens and then announced on Internet and mobile.

Consumer research indicated that Bonus was “Turkey’s favourite credit card”. However during the economic crisis, credit card spending was decreasing.

The objective was to find a way to grasp the attention of multiple card holders in a fun and involving way and make Bonus card their first choice over the competitors.The campaign aimed the enhancement of customer loyalty among existing customers, as well as attracting new customers to gain a bigger share of the pie in the credit card sales war.The strategy was polling the Turkish public with a mobile referendum and using the results as a lead for the brand campaign.