MTN celebrates 15 years with sms competition

This year marks the 15th anniversary of mobile network provider MTN’s inception. To celebrate this milestone, the company is inviting its customers who have shared MTN’s amazing journey over the past 15 years to join in the celebrations.

Over the next 15 weeks, everyone has a chance to win in a general knowledge SMS competition, launched on 30 April 2009.

In order to participate in the promotion, MTN customers need to subscribe to be included in the question-and-answer competition designed to test their general knowledge. Prizes range from a free HP Mini-Note PC which can be won daily between Monday and Saturday, with a Toyota Fortuner being given away every Sunday for the next 14 weeks. But, that’s not all! The grand prize winner at the end of the promotion stands in line to walk away with a House Bond Account from FNB valued at a whopping R1 000 000.00!

“MTN is celebrating 15 years of success as a leading mobile operator in South Africa, and what better way to celebrate than with the people who got us here, our loyal customers,” says Serame Taukobong, Chief Marketing Officer of MTN South Africa. “The competition is built on a skills-based SMS contest platform thereby giving everyone an equal opportunity to be a winner with MTN.”

In order to take part, MTN subscribers must text “15” to the premium 5-digit number 37187 (all SMS charged at R7.50) to opt-in for the competition. Participants will then be asked to send through their names. Thereafter they will receive two tips and information about the quiz game and how it works, including addresses for the mobisite, MTN call centre and Web addresses.

Players will then be sent a multiple-choice question with two possible answers. MTN will reply to participants to notify them if they have answered the question correctly or not. Each SMS sent answering the question will be charged at R7.50. Participants will also receive a tally of the points accumulated from their answer and the next question, should they wish to continue playing. Accumulating points is critical to stand in line to win the big weekly prizes and the grand prize of the Home Bond account at the end.

Customers can answer as many questions as they like but will be limited to 500 SMSs per day.

“We urge all our customers who participate in the competition to do so responsibly as to avoid running up large cell phone bills. People will also be able to check their account balances via the service in order to avoid any surprises at the end of the month,” continues Taukobong.

There are also various bonus prizes to be won each day which include ringtones and airtime. All text messages have to be sent through to the 37187 number.

“The competition has been designed to test the participants’ knowledge on a variety of topics. We will provide tips and hints to competitors as well as a variety of tools they can use to learn more about the competition. The promotion has been designed to be as interactive as possible, and ensure that everyone who participates can stand in line to win,” adds Taukobong.

“But, you have to opt-in in order to play and win. The top participants of the day stand in line to win the daily prize, while the entrant with the most accumulated points over the week will win one of the 14 Toyota Fortuners. The ultimate prize of the House Bond account worth R1 000 000 will go to the participant with the most accumulated points over the full 15 weeks of the competition.”

Players can only win one daily prize, but all their points will be added to their total accumulated points, putting them in line for the big prizes at the end of the week and the grand prize at the end.

“Our technicians have done all the work necessary to ensure that the competition will not place any additional pressure on the network and will not impact the service levels in any way.”