Ooredoo yesterday launched its first-ever global communication campaign with brand ambassador Leo Messi, as the company reaches out to football fans and social media enthusiasts across its footprint in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

The campaign includes an international commercial featuring the football skills of Messi and a host of young local talents from across its footprint.

It is supported by a major social media campaign, “Simply Do Wonders”, which encourages young people to upload videos of their football “street skills” to an Instagram account with the hashtag #MeetMessi.

The best local entries will be shared on a dedicated Facebook page and featured on the website, www.simplydowonders.com, and the winning entry will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Barcelona to meet Messi and see a major football match.

Dr Nasser Marafih, Group CEO of Ooredoo, said: “Across our footprint, from Algeria through to Indonesia and throughout the GCC, football unites people and speaks to their dreams. We’re proud that our first global campaign stars our brand ambassador, Leo Messi, and seeks to showcase the skills and aspirations of young people around the world.”

On his part, Messi said: “I’m very pleased to be working with Ooredoo on this campaign, which taps into the wealth of young sporting talent around the world and encourages them to ‘Do Wonders’. Together with Ooredoo, I hope we can challenge the contestants to work hard, follow their hearts and become the new generation of global football stars.”

The Ooredoo commercial sees the football superstar pit his skills against a team of young players in the heart of a major city – but with an interesting twist fuelled by Ooredoo technology.

One of the aims of the campaign is to demonstrate the links between the Ooredoo brand and Messi’s inspirational role at international sports tournaments like the FIFA World Cup, one of the most viewed events in the world.

Another campaign vision is for Ooredoo to challenge itself to enrich customers and their communities by uniting people through their love of football and to help support the next generation of sporting stars.

The theme of the advertisement is Ooredoo’s role in helping the young footballers take on Messi. It aims to inspire children to realise their dreams and overcome the challenges ahead of them with Ooredoo’s support.

The advertisement airs across a range of pan-Arab, local, Asian and international channels from today (June 1). It will be screened during some of the major matches of the FIFA World Cup 2014, hosted across a range of social media sites, and Ooredoo companies across its footprint will run major football promotions during the campaign.

In addition to the promotional push, Ooredoo continues to work with the Leo Messi Foundation on its ongoing mobile health clinic programme, which provides healthcare services for remote areas in Indonesia, Myanmar, Algeria and Tunisia, with dedicated mobile clinics for each country.

In Indonesia, 16 mobile health clinics have provided free healthcare services for more than 600,000 people. The mobile health clinics have been particularly effective following natural disasters and emergencies and have now expanded their activities to include providing medicine, vaccinations and education on infectious diseases for children and their families.

 

Discounted local rates for Hala customers

Ooredoo has announced the launch of a new promotion, which will enable Hala customers to enjoy “incredible” connectivity to Qatar and the rest of the world at a discounted rate, the company has said.

With the latest offer, new and existing International Saver Key and weekly Mobile Data Pack customers can now make local calls and send SMS at just QR0.35 per minute and QR0.30 per SMS,.

Previously, International Saver Key and weekly Mobile Data Pack customers were charged at Ooredoo’s standard local calling rate of QR0.55 per minute and QR0.40 per SMS.

The offer, which will run until June 29, has been launched as part of the company’s #OoredooSmart campaign to ensure that connectivity is accessible for Qatar’s diverse population. The International Saver Key enables customers to call 121 countries for QR0.60 per minute and discounted rates of QR0.45 per SMS.