Ad Review: "Vodafone M-Pesa"

Ad Name: Vodafone M-Pesa (click on the name to watch the ad)
Brand: Vodafone
Agency: Ogilvy India

About: A young guy, with helmet in one hand and an out-of-order scooter besides him on a raw way of a small town, calls his elder brother who works in 'Dilli' and asks how is the weather there. The elder brother quickly guesses that his brother has done something wrong and he is in need of money because the younger one called him only either when he wanted money or when he did something troublesome. On being asked what has he done, the younger brother makes silly excuses that he took Daddy ji's scooter for a ride but a tree came in between. He emotionally asks for some money from the elder brother promising that he would return it soon. The 'Dilliwala' brother gets soft-hearted and hands over the money to him on a condition that the younger one would never ask for the weather again. Now as the money is received, the younger one gets over the elder brother and says that if he had bought him a motorcycle, this wouldn't have happened. The elder brother in anger tells him to hang up the phone.

Relevance: The ad implies that the consumer of M-Pesa works away from home in big cities and sends money to remote places across the country. But, sending money in the conventional way can be a very slow process or even unreliable. Here comes the product's benefit that handing over money is as good as handing it over oneself. Usually we call our relatives/friends when they are at a distance from us. But in the ad, both the brothers are shown standing at one place which conveys that transfer of money through M-Pesa is as quick, safe and convenient as transferring it personally from one person to another.

Recollection Factor: The ad strikes a chord with viewers from all age groups. The elderly can be convinced by showing the application as a new form of money order. Parents can be educated that they can instantly transfer money to their children staying in hostels. Professionals can be educated that this is the easiest way of transferring money to their parents who are staying in another city. A minor percentage of the population has started using this service. The market potential is much bigger.

My Rating: 4 stars :)