Oladele S. Oladele
Businesses today rely so much on innovations to make impactful progress and grow beyond the marginal level.
For owner of such businesses across the world, they have to adopt different strategies to ensure the success of their companies. They innovate and access different channels to ensure that their enterprises are able to thrive in the midst of stiff competition and global economic difficulties.
One key component that has been found to aid the growth of companies is telecommunication. The telecoms industry plays a crucial role in helping businesses to effectively communicate, collaborate, and reach their customers. With the rise of remote work and increasing reliance on mobile devices, businesses leverage telecommunications solutions to enhance their productivity, efficiency, and customer experiences.
Interestingly, access to a wide range of tools and resources from telecommunication services has not only aided the growth of burgeoning companies across the world, it has also fast-tracked their development in a very short period.
Telecommunication support for entrepreneurs comes in different forms including but not limited to artificial intelligence, digital services, e-commerce and social media. It helps businesses to operate at all levels, leading to huge increases in efficiency and productivity.
This is succinctly captured and showcased in a new television commercial, “Big Day”, currently being aired by Nigeria’s total telecommunications solutions provider, Globacom across various visual platforms.
The company, which is reputed for consistently rolling out highly engaging and entertaining television commercials to market the brand and its products, is using the new commercial to highlight the impact of digital technology and how the company drives entrepreneurship and promote development of businesses through its different technology platforms. The commercial encapsulates how digital technology and the internet are consistently changing entrepreneurship and businesses.
This commercial, flagging the latest mainstream brand campaign tagged ‘Powering Your Ambition”, is focused on inspiring Nigerians to work towards achieving their dreams, with Globacom walking its talk by providing a slew of digital and technological support to bring those ambitions to reality.
“The Big Day”, Glo showcases its strength as a digital services company with solutions capable of helping its customers pull off ambitious goals. The TVC tells the story of how three techprenuers of a virtual runway start-up were able to overcome the challenge of heavy rain and collectively find their way to the location from where they beam it to their potential investors in different parts of the world. Tobi Bakare goes on a fast car, Tope Olowoniyan hops on power bike, while Chike Osebuka uses the traffic app powered by Glo data to direct them to the location through a faster route to the venue.
They eventually get there and quickly set up the meeting with a hologram using Glo data. Runway X is showcased and the investors are impressed and they approve the project. When the investors inquire how they are able to pull off such a feat, Tobi answers: “Thanks to Nigeria’s top tech talent”, while Chike quips, “And Glo!”, thus acknowledging Glo as the genius behind their feat.
With modern technological services in place, as clearly captured in the TVC, Globacom is no doubt empowered to support businesses and help many entrepreneurs power their ambitions.
Globacom is legendary for its wave-making, entertaining commercials right from the unique Glo “Ball” commercial that heralded the launch of the network in 2003 and the “Unlimited” brand commercial that had music icons, Lagbaja and P-Square.
The company had, several years ago, engaged such great national icons as the late Maitama Sule, Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, Ikemba of Nnewi, late Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, to tell its brand stories. It has also used Nollywood icons to weave its products and brand stories in evergreen commercials. Chief Zebrudaya (Chika Okpala), Chiwetalu Agu, Mama Gee (Patience Ozokwo), Richard Mofe Damijo, Madam Kofo, Madam Amebo and a whole lot of Nollywood icons have, at one time or another, been engaged by Globacom in exciting commercials.
The younger generation of musicians and actors have also been engaged by Globacom to tell its stories to the public through sensational commercials that resonate with the target population.
In 2013 when the Mobile Number Portability idea was introduced, Globacom featured several stars to present a “Move to Greener Pastures” TV commercial that was a hit among the people. The musical video commercial had nine Glo Ambassadors, Flavour, MI, Omawumi, Waje, Lynxxx, Bez, Naeto C, Chee the Voice and Burna Boy and generated unmatched interest among youths in the country. For Globacom, ‘Powering Ambition’ which the Big Day advert encapsulates is much more than just a proposition. “it’s a promise. A promise to keep you ahead of the curve, so that whenever opportunity whispers, you’re ready to respond and take the leap. Be it in making you stay close-nit to your family and friends with our ultra high speed data plan sharing, voice/data CUGs and transforming your home into a gateway for access to ultra high quality video entertainment content streaming, and partnering with you in delivering cutting edge digital transformation of your business and innovative ideas”.
The company says that when the ambitions of Nigerians thrive, Nigeria too rises to the heights of her ambitions, and “because Nigeria’s Unlimited Potential is forged in the Unlimited Ambition of the Nigerian Spirit, it is only right that Nigeria’s One and Only Unlimited Network is at the heart and forefront of Powering the Ambition of our great nation”.
One remarkable way Globacom demonstrated its commitment to powering the ambition of Nigerians is the construction in 2010 of – Glo 1 international submarine cable the first such project to be undertaken by an individual company.
Since the launch of Glo1 in 2010, it has metamorphosized into a leading end-to-end connectivity solutions provider across the globe. The undersea cable from the United Kingdom to Nigeria has the lowest latency in the market. With nationwide terrestrial fiber coverage and presence in all data centers, it boasts a major advantage very few possess in the market. With more undersea cable operators entering the market, the competition is going to intensify. However, the main distinction for Glo is that it can address market requirements across all spectrums, i.e. international cable + national fiber, last mile fiber connectivity using multiple fiber routes for redundancy up to any major data center within Nigeria.
Glo1 is the first successful submarine cable from the United Kingdom through the West Coast of Africa to Ghana and Nigeria. The 9,800-km-long cable with 169 repeaters originates from Bude in the UK and branches out at Osu landing station, Accra, Ghana, and terminates at Alpha Beach landing station, Lagos.
The facility has provided individuals, small and medium scale businesses and several industry verticals the much needed connectivity to power critical sectors of the economy such as oil and gas, manufacturing, banking, commerce, education and health, among others.
• Oladele is a Lagos-based marketing consultant