Etisalat Pushes For Social Media Penetration

*Steve Evans, CEO Etisalat Nigeria

Etisalat Nigeria’s quest for increased channels of communication with its customers in Nigeria was at the heart of its sponsorship of the just concluded Social Media Week Lagos (SMW) 2013.

The week long conversations spurred by young persons and leaders from over 38 countries happened simultaneously in 10 cities including Lagos. 

In his welcome remark at the ‘Africa 2.0, An Evening with Leaders’, one of the sub-themes of the SMW organized by Olusegun Obasanjo, Chairman of the Pan-African Civil Society Group and Nigeria’s former president, Etisalat Director for Products and Services, Lucas Dada acknowledged that social media has redefined communications globally hence Etisalat’s sponsorship of the SMW being an innovative and forward looking organisation.

According to Dada, ‘Innovation is one of the pillars on which Etisalat’s business is built, we like to challenge the norm and are known to be pacesetters; it is for this reason that Etisalat is the first City Headline Sponsor of Social Media Week.’ 

Dada revealed that Etisalat’s customer-centric attributes and the

advent of social communities has seen the Telco join in global online conversations through various platforms including Twitter, Facebook and Google+. ‘We listen, we evolve and we recognize that conversations are now driven in different ways including through social media channels,’ he said.

He noted that Etisalat is rated the fourth Most Influential Telco on Social Media by Clout, particularly for its ability to engage and influence and not by sheer number of fans. ‘We however realize that we have only just begun the journey on social media and so, look forward to enriching conversations throughout this week and beyond, whilst also sharing some of our experiences,’ he added. 

Panelists at the Africa 2.0 included Country Chair of Africa 2.0 and CEO/Co-founder, Sahara Energy Group, Tonye Cole; Founder of Bella Naija, Uche Pedro and Founder of Leap Africa, Ndidi Nwuneli. They discussed the role of social media in employment development and wealth creation. 

The Social Media Week Lagos was an intellectual potpourri of discussions to expose participants to various social media, case studies and how to leverage social media in every sphere of life.