In my 45 minute discussion with the person described by admirers, rivals and even detractors as the most powerful woman in SA marketing, Santie Botha links the words "MTN and global brand" 24 times.
And she's fully entitled to do so. Local subscribers who sweat the small stuff about free minutes tend to forget that MTN now operates in 21 emerging countries with a potential customer base of 500 million people and is the market leader in many of those countries. MTN has truly become a global brand that operates out of Roodepoort.
An achievement, but the energetic Botha also says those in the cellphone network business should never lose sight of what a basic commodity they're dealing with. "Three things are important to people - food, shelter and communication. MTN provides that third leg to countless people and we really do change lives."
But does she really believe that well-used marketing cliché? You bet. She cites a case in Rwanda where she witnessed an old woman talking to a relative for the first time on a crystal clear connection in a far-flung region of the country and the smiles and tears that followed. "Yes, cellphones do change lives."
To that end Botha and her marketing teams have adopted a version of the Coca Cola spread-it-wide marketing philosophy. While Coke marketers ultimately believe their biggest competitor is water and won't rest until the beverage comes out of taps, Botha wants to see airtime available in every operating market at 400 m intervals. "If someone wants airtime, they should never have to walk any further than that to buy it and if they can't do it physically, then they should be able to access it electronically. That's my marketing vision for MTN."
To get to that point, marketing has played a critical role in MTN's charge to the top - Botha has overall stewardship of a devolved and autonomous team of marketing professionals in the different operating countries.
But it wasn't easy when she took over the job about three years ago.
"Yes, there was brand confusion; many operations had their own logos and payoff lines." In order to start playing the global brand game, some degree of homogenisation was needed. In other words, the brand had to be constricted and tailored to a template before being allowed to stretch again.
And the starting point? Lesson one for marketers - Botha insisted on strong grassroots research. Local customers all want different things from a brand. "We needed to ask them what they wanted and not what we wanted them to have. It's a basic question that many marketers going into new territories fail to ask."
The next challenge for the marketing team was to match the pace of product roll-out with brand and retail marketing. "Most of the operators we took over were brand-spanking new and releasing products into the market simultaneously as the brand was growing was critical. It was a question of getting the balance absolutely right."
Part of getting it right was getting her marketing teams on the same page. How do you take a global brand and localise it? How do you get people to buy in?
Though it's the worst marketing word you've ever heard, it rings absolutely true. Botha speaks of a concept called "glocalisation" - finding the unique X-factor that will drive local brand traction and also make sure it has relevance to the bigger global brand and its aspirations. It's a concept the world's best marketers grapple with on a daily basis, given that local values and needs change and that the mother brand is also shifting its emphasis the whole time as it deals with competitors and new market threats.
The secret, says Botha, is not to deviate too much from the original brand premise but to have the courage to make risky changes when it's necessary. So far she seems to have got it right as MTN's brand penetration continues to grow apace in its emerging market suite.
She's also comfortable in saying that sometimes tough calls have to be made to stay true to the concept: "Yes, in the beginning of bedding down a brand you have to be draconian at times, even if it means killing a campaign that won't work in the wider brand context."
Once you have that right, says Botha, then local marketers can be given flexibility to be more creative and innovate.
Though MTN is not short of a marketing bob or two, Botha contends measurement of marketing effectiveness is a big deal at the organisation.
She says there was a time when MTN would consider sponsoring anything that moved - that approach has now given way to a broad strategic goal of two pillars: soccer and music. The brand has invested tens of millions in its association with the upcoming 2010 soccer World Cup and its ownership of the SA Music Awards (just held at Sun City) is one of the social events of the year. The twin approach makes perfect sense. Most of MTN's customers and potential customers in its developing markets are soccer mad, and aligning itself with music plays to the critical youth segment. As the mobile tele-phony market grows, it's that age demo-graphic that is going to drive sales.
Any savvy CEO will tell you that for a brand to grow, the staff have to love it. Often those are hollow words, but in MTN's case they seems to be true.
Though the broader focus of the company remains innovation, building a loyal customer base and keeping churn as low as possible word (when contracts elapse), Botha believes that the MTN brand and a "can do" spirit are synonymous.
"Staff first and foremost love the industry, but they genuinely love the brand as well. It's a matter of pride and ownership in something that is working so well. It makes my job that much easier."
Botha has a reputation of painting things yellow. She famously daubed the outside of O R Tambo International yellow and even bought the rights to the top of Sandton City so its lighting would cast a yellow hue over the richest CBD in Africa.
That's the big brand stuff and you have to go large but retail and point of sale branding in the cellphone business is just as important. Again it's all about brand balance. And here's the second ugliest word you'll ever hear in marketing - bretail - where big brand attributes show up seamlessly in smaller in-store advertising and on the street.
Under Botha's marketing reign, MTN has established itself as one of the most astute brands in the world or, as she likes to put it - everywhere you go.
