Maputo has very lax advertising laws. What they need is a dose of government intervention in their free market. One of the biggest companies operating in Maputo is mcel. They are arguably the most popular cellphone provider. The competition (Vodafone) focuses on monthly paying customers which are heavily outnumbered by the prepaying customers. I am a mcel customer and I am apolled at their extravagant advertisements that are plastered all over the city. For example, they have an ad that covers the entire side of a large apartment building on Av. Julius Nyerere. I swear if you look hard enough you too (that’s right you reading this) can see the yellow glow from the ad.
However, with all the negative things I could say about their marketing initiatives I must add that they are very effective. On almost any street corner in Maputo you can find one or more mcel street vendors. Mostly youth who wearing a yellow mcel apron who sell the prepaid phone cards. They are everywhere! I suppose they are a good way of cheap distribution while simultaneously providing many employment opportunities. However, it just seems like any competitor would have no chance in trumping mcel and their tag phrase “tudo bon”.
Picture 1: See shameless advertisement for mcel
Picture 2: See a mobile mcel representative increasing his target audience by expanding his coverage area.
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