Nigeria has a rapidly developing mobile telephony landscape. With teledensity over 100%, and a huge internet subscriber base of over 90 million, Nigerians can’t have enough of the internet.

This led to the deployment of 4G LTE technology by major players in the sector. MTN Nigeria, the market leader took the higher ground by launching its 4G services in October. Following suit was Etisalat, as well as Nigeria’s home grown network, Glo.

Our brand, Airtel was the only one that didn’t have the superior 4G Technology.

Our task was simple. Move the conversation away from category conventions such as speed, and affordability, make people love Artel’s data sub-brand, smartSPEEDOO

Moments is a story of how two middle aged men strike off a friendship while on a long bus ride from the eastern part of Nigeria to the commercial nerve centre, Lagos.

It tells of how data (the internet) helps them connect with each other and ultimately helps set up a warmer family reunion for the less tech savvy of the two friends.

The film was aired for the first time on the 23rd of December 2016 on Facebook and YouTube. That same day, it was released on Traditional TV, not as another 60 seconds spot, but a full length of 2 minutes 35 second story.

On Instagram, we also created short versions of the long form with specific messages about the season. We used the #SpreadPreciousMoments to drive the conversations online.

We also tapped into a long standing tradition of the Nigerian people. The yuletide is a period where people engaged in a lot of road travel to see family and friends, and our story was well synced into the mood and feel of the country.