From 24 May 2010, through an innovative new marketing service available from Vodacom, incoming callers to Vodacom-sponsored employee cellphones will hear the Voice Behind Bafana Bafana song and message – encouraging callers to “join the voice behind Bafana Bafana”, and providing even more exposure for Vodacom’s brand campaign aimed to support 2010.

In a first for South Africa, and as an extension of its Welcome Tones service, Vodacom has introduced Welcome Tones for its business customers; a Vodacom network-based service that enables customers to use their corporate-sponsored cellphones as an innovative new tool – effectively creating a new media space to play its own“ jingles”, advertisements or announcements.

Dynamic corporate companies and business entrepreneurs can use their cellphone Welcome Tones to advertise their brand to callers – creating a new and cost-effective advertising channel.

“Both existing and potential customers are calling your company’s cellphones every day. So imagine the value of being able to play your advertising or corporate messages to your potential customers instead of a boring “ring ring” tone, says Shameel Joosub, Managing Director of Vodacom South Africa, “at a nominal cost to your marketing budget.”

“This service is really a unique, practical and cost-savvy marketing tool for businesses of all sizes – SMEs would benefit hugely from the low cost to entry, whilst due to the high penetration of cellphone usage in SA, larger enterprises can easily reach their entire customer base.”

For only R6 per cellphone per month, companies can select an audio clip of their choice, between 15 to 45 seconds in length, to be activated on the cellphones of employees as Welcome Tones. These personalised brand messages will be played back to callers while they wait for the call to be answered. Should the cellphone not be answered during that time, the audio will repeat until the cellphone is answered or the call redirects to voicemail or disconnects.

Businesses will have the option of producing their own Welcome Tones in the required format. Alternatively they can request that Vodacom handle the production in its state of the art Yebo Radio studio at an additional cost.

Companies can also choose which of their cellphones they would like to link to the Welcome Tones service, as well as the period that the Welcome Tone will be active. The Corporate Welcome Tones will only play on workdays from 8am to 5pm on selected sponsored lines.

“Vodacom’s Welcome Tones have previously been known as a great way for individuals to personalise their handsets and now we are enabling companies to use this rich and powerful platform to extend their brand campaigns as well,” Joosub says.

To purchase and manage Corporate Welcome Tones, Vodacom corporate customers should please visit Vodacom Mobile Media, or Vodacom for more information.