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The industry is getting more exciting by the day especially since the official commencement of the National Communications Commission’s compelled Mobile Number Portability (MNP) campaign.

MNP is intended to benefit the Nigerian telecoms subscribers who are seen to have lived with poor quality of service for upwards of 10 years without a choice to quit the network. This is because majority of subscribers were emotionally attached to their numbers. The thought of ditching a network and losing his number is the last thing that can cross the mind an average subscriber.

In a bid to bail the subscribers from this “shackle of bondage”, NCC on Monday officially commissioned the take-off of MNP to democratize telecoms service with a bid to empower the subscriber to be able to opt out of any network when he is not getting desired service quality. Now, you as a subscriber can literally “sack” your network and move over to another where you perceived the service is better and yet retain your much cherished number.

As soon as the scheme was flagged off by NCC, the tones of the marketing communication and campaigns materials launched to push the project in the market have changed. From the market leader to the underdogs,  all hell is let loose from each of the camps to encourage,  hoodwink or  lure  subscribers to ditch their initial network and pitch tent with a new network. The fact is that the MNP could be an avenue to redraw the market’s leadership graph.

In the light of this, major players and their respective agencies have gone back to the drawing board. The results have been some uncanny creative aimed at destabilizing the competition. Sometimes, they are seen as an outright hit below the belt, sometimes unethical  while at times they are described as an out of the box creative in tandem with the current challenges  in the industry.

For instance, the first coup was hatched by MTN, the undisputable market leader.  In a hatchet job seen to have thrown spanners into the works of its rival, Etisalat, MTN gave  expression to the real meaning of “porting”.  Afiz Oyetoro, the legendary Saka of Etisalat advertising fame “ported” from its former darling Etisalat to MTN. Saka who was the face of the Etisalat  (by default) brand in Nigeria, dealt a blow to the brand as he now pitches his tent with the market leader.

Perhaps, Etisalat left too much too open in its contract with Saka if any, but MTN was said to have cleverly exploited  the loop holes to record the first major port.  Chima Nwuke, Head of Marketing, Consumer Banking, Standard Chartered Bank, says the move is very insightful on MTN’s part. “No better time to drop it. I hope heads will not roll in Etisalat”. What an expensive oversight? Nwukee asks.

John Ehiguese, Group CEO, MediaCraft Sees the current situation as marketing warfare at its classical best! I doubt that MTN would have gone into this without covering their tracks from the contractual and intellectual property angles. Mr. Ehiguese reasons “somebody at Etisalat simply didn’t do their job. They left their flanks open and allowed MTN to pull off such a spectacular coup”.

But something tells me, Ehiguese continues, it’s early days yet. We’ll definitely see more of such ‘ambushes’ in the days and weeks ahead, as the Number Portability regime takes root. So, let the fun begin!

Nosa Uwadiae Esq, GM/COO, Media SuperMart, blew the lid on the issue a couple of weeks ago when he asked the question who had the Intellectual Property Rights over a paid for Advert. Advertiser or Agency? 

The issues according to Uwadiae Esq are;who has the I.P Rights over Saka? Was there an I.P contract with Saka detailing tenure, exclusivity etc from Saka? Did Saka transfer such right by writing to agency? Did agency transfer in writing to client? Was the client pennywise and pound foolish to exclude exclusivity from contract because it came at premium cost?

From the outset, was the I.P in Saka clearly taught through by agency and client to secure it sufficiently for legal exploitation for a foreseeable period? All these were the legal knots. 

Providing some explanations an MTN official, Dola Bamgboye, who was deeply involved in the scheme says what Saka has done is as dispassionate as it is pragmatic, advising that people should not get too emotional about business.

“Everyday we see people move from one bank to another; from one telecomm company to another; from one football club to another; from one oil CO to another; from one basketball team to another; from one political party to another; from one church to another; in fact, from one relationship to another. I dare say that all is in pursuit of happiness” explains Mr. Bamgboye.

On a general note, he advises practitioners, “If you prize and value your asset, the smart thing to do is secure it contractually. If you don't, do not evoke sentiments when someone else exploits it for value”.

Pinning down on Saka’s loyalty issue pointed out by some industry analysts, the MTN official asks can anyone argue that loyalty begets loyalty. “The best way for Etisalat to demonstrate loyalty to Saka was to give him a contract. If they didn't, how long was Saka expected to sit in the corner waiting for the next engagement? 1 year? 2 years? or 5 years, all because he did a few commercials for them?  I can tell you authoritatively that while it lasted, his status wasn't even that of a brand ambassador. He was only engaged randomly on a need by need basis”.

Rounding off, Uwadiae Esq as a matter of fact advises practitioners, the more we fail to confront the I.P of our sweat the poorer we will become adding that this where the wealth of IMC resides