There are several characteristics of what a good advert ought to be, including basic elements such as effective placement, compelling headlines, appropriate graphics among others. If these elements are followed to the letter, they certainly make for an appealing and persuasive advert. However, there also tends to be some shortcomings and/or limitations on any given advert; and probably an angle which would have perhaps provided a better perspective to the targeted public. This essay is therefore aimed at critiquing and analyzing the Warid Telecom TV advert for their campaign to register onto the Warid Pesa mobile money transfer platform.
In the said advert, a cross section of different publics is presented - a student calls her dad; a guy calls his friend; a stranded young man calls another and a business man calls on another person – and all of them are saying “Please send me money right now!”
The situation presented in the TV Ad depicts distressed characters who urgently require a service (money to be sent to them) which the advertiser purports to provide with as less stress as possible (of course in comparison to the competitors on the market). But this is in the punch line at the climax of the advert where WARID promotes their Mobile Money platform branded Warid Pesa as the only such service on the market where a customer neither needs to be currently subscribed on the Warid Telecom network nor have to wait before approval of their registration.
The advert cleverly, yet subtly paints the comparative analysis between Warid Pesa and MTN’s Mobile Money by highlighting the fact that for other service providers, one would require to be a subscriber to the respective telephone network, fill registration forms, wait for an approval of the application - then be able to send money to the person receiving money who would also be required to be a registered Mobile Money subscriber.
A scenario is played out with a man operating a kiosk, directly speaking to the camera and saying “Even if you register now, you will not be able to send the money right now”!
The advert then follows on with suggestion from ‘Mr Warid Pesa’ beseeching the targeted audience (current Warid customers, prospective subscribers and anyone on a different customer) to use Warid’s Pesa mobile money transfer system.
So, in analyzing the above Warid Pesa TV advert, there are several strong points that should be highlighted, taking into consideration the TV platform which was used as a medium of choice to disseminate the information.
About the element of placement, the Warid Pesa advert was run on a large scale – playing on most of the local television channels for maximum impact. This certainly ensured that there was as much publicity as possible given for the campaign aimed at promoting and extending Warid’s mobile money service given the accumulated total coverage for all the stations over which the campaign was run.
The advert in question is also very analytically persuasive by giving a direct comparison between what customers can be able to do (with Warid Pesa) – and which other networks do not permit; for instance the issues of not being able to send money if one is not a subscriber of the network and also the idea that one has to fill forms then wait for approval before transacting business. This presents the audience with some relational contrast and comparison for those being encouraged to join - by showing the difference from the other service providers like MTN Mobile Money, SafariCom’s M-Pesa and UTL’s M-Sente for the same service.
The overall concept and presentation – using characters of the girl, young men, business man and old man is strategically drawn out to cover almost all age brackets of the targeted publics since the service being propagated is used by all age groups in the market. With this setting, the concept cleverly appeals to all age groups within the specific targeted market scope. The underlying audio voice-overs which are also deliberately drawn in an interesting yet ‘story-telling’ and descriptive format give a good picture of an easily comprehensible scenario where the Warid Pesa service could come in handy to save someone from stress of getting stranded somewhere without money; and then be able to get rescued with money sent to them – hussle free.
The Warid Pesa TV Ad also has the element of focus and specificity in it. The overall theme in the advert is that customers do not really have to get stuck without money then be restricted by all the bottlenecks and formalities surrounding getting a money transfer service because, according to Warid, their system does not require a sender to be subscribed to their network nor fill forms and wait for approval but rather can be used instantly to send money to any other network – and instantly. This message is clear and easy to pass on to the intended targeted publics.
The other positive element in the Warid Pesa advert is that of being short, simple and precisely to the point. Within less than a minute, a story of four people who need a service and one kiosk trader is told – and within the same time frame, the audience is given the comparison and advantage of Warid Pesa over the other service providers. The message is direct and straight to the point so there is little chance of the message being lost; yet presented in a serious but fun way which majority of the targeted audience can relate to. Almost anyone who watches the advert has ever been in a position where they run out of money and needed someone to bail them out urgently – so the concept is realistic, very belieavable and people can relate to it.
The advert also presents an element of ‘an irresistible offer’ being offered to the customer. The fact that someone does not need an ID, fill forms, waiting approval times and being able to send money immediately provides a better alternative to the other service providers on the market and this is the hook. The targeted audience would weigh the advantages of convenience and comfort (peace of mind) promised by Warid in the said advert which would be the appeal factor for someone to join and use the service being advertised. This certainly drives the campaign miles towards achieving the desired objective.
However, there are some aspects of the overall concept of the TV advert which, on more thorough scrutiny and analysis would probably have been executed different as analyzed here below.
Using the communication mode of television limits the category of peoples being addressed to those (normally elite and more so urban dwellers) who can afford a television. Though the advert is a brilliant concept, it is only restricted to the minority who possess television sets and the majority of the people in the countryside and villages would not benefit from the communique – even though a good percentage of business transactions are now being carried out between town centers and the outlying countryside away from the capital.
Another restriction of the advert is that it was run in the English language and had no alternative dialects hence the fact that sections of the audience who do not understand the English language were excluded from the communication. Ideally, the campaign for the very same concept and advert ought to have been translated and parallel commercials broadcast alongside each other for maximum impact; in targeting all the different public groups within the intended market.
The concept portrays a kiosk man dressed in a yellow shirt, that the service cannot be offered because the customer needs to fill forms and register for Mobile Money before they can make the transaction. With hindsight, it is clear that the other service provider with a Yellow brand is MTN – and whether strategically intentional or not, the idea that the Warid Pesa advert is designed to single out and discredit the effectiveness of one competitor (MTN) in the market yet there are other service providers (UTL M-sente, Safari Com M-Pesa) shows that Warid probably does not take the other players to be a serious competition yet ideally the better business sense should be to strategically campaign to get all the customers on the market. With this specific, targeted advertising – portraying the kiosk man in a yellow shirt inferred (whether deliberately or not) that the MTN Mobile Money system will not avail you a service to transfer money instantly in case of an emergency. In my view, an open rather than very specific and targeted ad campaign presenting a new product better than all on the market would have been much better than this concept which singles out a particular product/service provider on the market.
Therefore, from the above critical analysis, it is evident that while the Warid Pesa TV Ad campaign which run last year in Uganda was a good concept to a greater extent – basing on the appropriate elements embedded therein, it is also true to say that there could have been even more adjustments to make the campaign more widespread, encompassing, expressive and business driven.

REFERENCES
All Africa. (2011): Warid Pesa sets stage for tough competition [Online] Available from: http://allafrica.com/stories/201112210631.html [Accessed: 28th February 2013]

BizTech Africa. (2011): Uganda gets Warid Pesa [Online] Available from: http://www.biztechafrica.com/article/uganda-gets-warid-pesa/1635/ [Accessed: 28th February 2013]

GSMA. (2012): Warid Pesa – Channel flexibility as competitive advantage [Online] Available from: http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/warid-pesa-channel-flexibility-as-competitive-advantage [Accessed: 28th February 2013]

PR Newswire. (2012): Warid Pesa Obopay Partners With Warid Telecom to Launch Warid Pesa in Uganda [Online] Available from: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/obopay-partners-with-warid-telecom-to-launch-warid-pesa-in-uganda-137558143.html [Accessed: 28th February 2013]

Total Telecom. (2012): Warid Telecom launches Warid Pesa [Online] Available from: http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?ID=470132 [Accessed: 28th February 2013]

Warid Telecom Uganda. (2012): Warid Pesa Uganda Campaign - TV Advert. [Online] Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQGR477ocrY [Accessed: 28th February 2013]

Warid Telecom Uganda. (2012): Warid Pesa [Online] Available from: http://www.waridtel.co.ug/warid-pesa [Accessed: 28th February 2013]