Mobile operator, Airtel Nigeria donated 33 brand new, fully branded Toyota Hiace buses to its partners in order to facilitate sales logistics and market activation, in a move industry analysts said would resonate strongly with trade.
Speaking at the ceremony in Lagos, the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Deepak Srivastava said, the company understood the crucial role the partners were playing in bringing Airtel innovative products and services to the doorsteps of their valued customers.
Srivastava described the buses as tools that would boost their business performance by expanding access to their customers, saying in the last one year, deliberate efforts and resources have been committed to aggressive market development, which included effective distribution network.
He disclosed that time and energy had been invested in building a sustainable and mutually rewarding relationship with business partners, especially Channel Partners, expressing satisfaction that the partners had reciprocated the gesture by responding positively through their efforts in the market place.
“Airtel will continue to see ways to strengthen our mutually beneficiary relationship in our quest to become the most loved brand by the people of Nigeria, indeed the people of Africa”, he said.
He stated that the buses would enable the partners to spread the brand across the country stressing that telecommunication was not meant for only one part of the country, but for everybody. He added that the more the people that use telecoms the more business is generated, which in turn leads to economy growth.
Managing Director of T.I.G. Communications Limited, Jude Ukachukwu, described the event as a success and good reward for service, saying that Airtel had been in Nigeria for the last one year with tremendous improvement in retail penetration and also the brand had done well in awareness creation.
He said the company had come out with a better tariff structure and several offerings which the partners had leveraged on in driving the network to profitability, adding that the buses would improve retail penetration of the product and more awareness would be created.
Mrs. Ifeoma Agbass, one of the partners, said the buses served as an incentive that will encourage them to “trade positively and have a way forward”.
She noted that the branded buses would help them in marketing and activation of SIM card registration, saying it will lead to improvement in their businesses.
She disclosed that the buses were given to partners who excelled and met expectations, and expressed the hope that the company will do more to encourage them to move their businesses forward.
Airtel has been driving the price market in the telecommunications industry since it berthed in Nigeria a year ago, using various innovative approaches to remain a market leader. In this new move, the channel partners who are the live wire and direct contact with consumers have been duly recognised and encouraged to do what they do best. By this action, it is expected that other channel partners who have not been as aggressive and effective as expected would see the move as a challenge to perform better in the period ahead, thus boosting further their own business profile and that of Airtel, even as the company looks forward to and positions for another decade of aggressive business growth and expansion.
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