Venezuelans are a social, talkative people. 35% of Venezuelans are online, and more than 80% of those are also on Facebook. Mobile phone penetration stands at 104%, so there are more mobile phones than people. Despite the popularity of mobile, smartphone penetration in the country is nearer 25%, so a lot of people were missing out on the mobile Facebook experience. Another feature of the Venezuelan telecoms market is that SMS is an extremely popular communication tool.
Movistar wanted to increase its SMS flow to 90,000/month by December 2010 and build its presence in the social media space, specifically with Facebook. Capitalising on the Venezuelan enthusiasm for Facebook and the country's affinity for mobile phones, a strategy was developed along two implementation lines.
A branded Facebook page served as the communication platform for the 'Time to share!' concept. Inside the page an applications required the user to 'like' the Movistar brand and enter their mobile phone number. The application connected the Facebook user with a telephone number and sent SMS notifications of Facebook activity within their social network. In effect, this turned every mobile phone into a smartphone, giving the users the opportunity to stay connected with their friends anywhere and anytime.
To drive SMS usage to achieve the 90,000 goal by December, a second app on the Facebook page served as an interactive auction. Every day, the brand opened an auction for different prizes. To participate in the auction, users sent an SMS to shortcode 789 to bid for the prize. If they were the last user to send the SMS for over a minute, that person won the prize. If another user sent an SMS, the bid time started over again. Once a minute went by without any other person sending a message, the user who sent the last SMS won the auction.
Results
The goal was to increase the December flow of SMS to 90,000. This goal was achieved by the third day of the auctions. In 28 days 1,236,774 SMS were sent, exceeding the goal by 1,274%.
A Movistar community of 45,000 people was built in 28 days. Users posted more than 500 photos showing moments of interaction with the brand.
This campaign won the 'Best Use of Digital Landscape' Award at the 2011 Festival of Media Latam Awards.