A new brand identity to reach a wider target market

Cape Town, June 2009:

MWEB, South Africa’s leading Internet service provider, will this week re-launch its 11-year old brand as part of a marketing strategy to broaden the company’s reach into new markets. MWEB currently has a subscriber base of more than 320 000.

“For more than a decade, MWEB has been a trusted household name and has earned the respect of South African consumers and business people through our innovative products and services. However our clients’ requirements have changed and so have we.” says Natalie Thayer, GM of MWEB.

Explaining the rationale for the new brand strategy, Thayer added, “We’ve decided to focus our efforts on an audience who enjoy experiencing the power of the Internet from a variety of platforms. Our research has shown that this audience is open-minded and want products and services that save them time, of which they have very little. Our new brand strategy is therefore coupled with a broader mobile product offering.”

The mobile product offerings will include the integration of Nimbuzz, MWEB.Mobi and custom made applications for mobile devices.

“We see our new mobile division playing a pivotal role in the coming year. Consumers need information at their finger tips and they are more likely to use their smart phone in a meeting to find answers online, than wait until they are back at the office to boot up their laptops. This market needs products that provide them with solutions which will simplify their lives.”

Against this background, MWEB has reworked its pay-off line and advertising, focusing on capturing the power and the possibilities of the Internet.

To focus on the broad range of activities users can do online, MWEB’s new pay off line will be “Connect & you can” which has been conceptualised by FoxP2.

Fox was awarded the MWEB account in a four-way pitch. Another new partner to MWEB is Vizeum, a strategic media planning agency.

MWEB will focus on radio and television to communicate their messaging. The advertisements will illustrate what you can do when you are “connected”.

Ends

Note to Editors
MWEB was founded in 1997 and is today South Africa’s leading Internet Service Provider (ISP). MWEB is highly regarded for its wide range of exclusive content, differentiated tools and services, best-of-breed technology guarantee and internationally sourced R&D to benefit its more than 300 000 subscribers. The company comprises two main divisions: MWEB Connect, which is focused on the Residential and Small business market, and MWEB Business, which offers products and services for larger businesses to integrate their IT infrastructure and business processes with the Internet. MWEB is owned by Multichoice South Africa Holdings Limited, a Naspers Limited subsidiary that has more than 30% Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment shareholders.