1.1 Introduction
MTN Advertisement is seen as a potent vehicle for achieving acceptance of desirable and useful concepts or ideas where the profit motive is minimal or missing altogether. MTN Advertising has become an integral part of our social and economic system; it is indeed a powerful communication tool of business to most firms and organizations for them to be able to reach their target market across the globe. In other words, advertising can be seen as a form of communication intended to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to purchase or take some action upon products, ideals, or services (Okorie, 2009). Today, the telecommunication industry in Nigeria has become a very competitive market with various service providers; thus, there is a need for the use of advertising to create awareness and to promote the sales of that particular product or service.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
The development of telecommunication in Nigeria began in 1886 when a cable connection was established between Lagos and the colonial office in London by 1893, government office in Lagos were provided with telephone service, which was later extended to Ilorin and Jebbu in the hinterland. A slow but steady process of development in the years that followed led to the gradual formation of the nucleus of a national telecommunication network.
In 1923, the first commercial trunk telephone service between Itu and Calabar was established. Between 1946 and 1952, a Three-Channel – Line Carrier system was commissioned between Lagos and Ibadan and was extended to Oshogbo, Kaduna, Kano, Benin, and Enugu; thus connecting the colonial office in London with Lagos and the commercial centre in the country with local authority offices. In 1960s the network system was expanded to meet growing needs of the fledging commercial and industrial communication network system.
In the 1980s, the telecommunication arm of the department of Post and Telecommunication was merged with the Nigerian External Telecommunication (NET) and in 1985 the Nigerian Telecommunication Ltd (NITEL), a Limited Liability Company that administers both internal and external telecommunication services in Nigeria was formed.
Advertising is a form of communication used to encourage or persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners, sometimes a specific group of people) to continue or take some new action. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behaviour with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common.
The purpose of advertising may also be to reassure employees or shareholders that a company is viable or successful. Advertising messages are usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various tradition anal media, including mass media such as newspaper, magazines, television commercial, radio advertisement, outdoor advertising or direct mail, or new media such as blogs and website and text messages. In this research, the purpose of the advertising strategies used by MTN Nigeria is to gain more of the market share in the GSM service competition and campaign in Nigeria.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to appraise the Advertisement Strategies of GSM Company MTN.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that for every business, there is competition by different group in such business to win a large amount of market share by getting more customers. The competition is aimed at enlarging and expanding the market target in the business. In telecommunication the competition is also felt. In Nigeria, there are many GSM companies namely, MTN, Airtel, Etisalat, Globacom and many others.
These telecommunication outfits compete with each in various ways, advertising inclusive to win more of the market share. It is in the light of these competitions and the quest to win a large share of the target market that advertising become a very big to promote the service rendered by MTN Nigeria so as to win large market share in the telecommunication market competition. In view of these, a good advertising strategies are needed to improve on their sales promotion and educate the masses on the product and services become the challenge MTN Nigeria has to overcome.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to appraise the Advertisement Strategies of GSM Company MTN. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To find out the advertising strategies used by the MTN Nigeria to sell their products and services;
- To find out the challenges MTN face in adopting the various advertising;
- To ascertain how advertising help to expand business and products promotion; and
- To know how these advertising strategies have impacted more or have increased their shares in the telecommunication sector.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Have the advert strategies been effective in the increase in the telecommunication industry, MTN?
- What advert strategy is MTN Nigeria using to sell their products and services?
- How is advert helping to expand business and product promotion?
- What are the challenges MTN is facing in adopting the various advert?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: There is no significant advertisement strategy been effective in the increase in the MTN Telecommunication Company
- H1: There is a significant advertisement strategy been effective in the increase in the MTN Telecommunication Company
1.7 Significance of Study
The study on advertising strategies of GSM companies is a very interesting one. The study will be significant in various ways;
- It will help the researcher and anybody who will have access to this research work to understand the effects of good advertising strategies in promoting business.
- The study will help to expose the challenges establishments face in accomplishing their advertising strategies.
- The study will also help to x-ray some of the advertising strategies used by MTN Nigeria to promote their product and services.
- Furthermore, the study will help to highlight the various reasons why advertising is necessary in any business organization.
1.8 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the advertising strategies of GSM companies in Nigeria with special references to MTN Nigeria. The study seeks to look into the activities, programme and advertising strategies employed by the MTN Nigeria to gain a large market share in the telecommunication sector. The study did not by any means discuss topics other than advertising strategies.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
Impact: This refers to the effect that MTN has on the subscribers in Uyo Metropolis.
MTN: Mobile Telecommunication Network. MTN is one of the major wireless telephone operators in Nigeria.
Advertisement: It is an appeal that contains some aesthetic information concerning a product or service.
