adminTechnoMag Staff
Most parastatals are battling to operate profitably because of the traditional ways of doing business and the issue of legacy debts that are weighing them down but there are a few that have defied the odds. One of these is Powertel that has gained remarkable brand recognition, which has put it on a firm footing on the market.The brand is slowly taking the market by storm, mainly as a result of a change in marketing strategy.
Powertel has re-branded thrice in the past five years. The new brand behind Powertel is re energised and focused which has probably forced many to change their perception towards the brand, as market confidence has been reactivated.
Powertel’s successful rebranding exercise includes new corporate colors and the release of new products and packages that have been well received.
Their slow wimax usb dongles we had dumped have suddenly bounced back to life, with so much increased speeds after a network upgrade and more importantly they can now be used across the country.
Powertel has also made a major commercial come back by improving their infrastructure which saw a major national upgrade from their initial STM 16 to STM 32, seeing their data network highly optimised for high data through put nationwide.
The recent launch of fibre to home project has taken the market by storm, especially in Braeside area although we had expected a lot more from them since very few medium to high density suburbs have fibre connectivity in Zimbabwe.
Probably the most significant change they made was in their data tariff with the earthquake data bundles, a major discount which saw their rates being competitive.
The efficient service is backed by an online chat service and support that runs 24 hours a day.
The company has been aggressively conducting market activation in Braeside advancing their 2016 launched fibre to the home product.
The activation saw the company partnering with Spar at some point, a move that helped in positioning their catchment area.
Powertel has been heavily involved in strategic influential functions with clear brand representation.
The recent gigantic University of Zimbabwe Paparrette competition gave Powertel an edge with the University and next generation of industry leaders.
The University of Zimbabwe in partnership with the Zimbabwe Institute of Engineers hosted an innovative competition at the NLT400 Hall.
It is also making waves in customer relations which is key with the company’s recent launch of the handy self-service portal, live chat and vibrant social network management.
They also recently launched the mobile chat service which serves as the solution to frequently asked questions by the customer’s realtime. Powertel a wholly owned Zesa company, has many lessons for other parastatals and state owned companies as well as other private sector companies.
It’s time for our parastatals to start walking their talk and not over rely on subsidies from Government. They should either shape up or ship out.
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