International Calling Company Rebtel Looks To Indian – American Comic Creators For Multicultural Ad Campagin
San Francisco – September 19, 2008 – Rebtel, the No. 1 rated international calling company, looking for a new way to stand out in the highly competitive international calling market has tapped an interesting partner, Monsoon Media creators of the popular outsourcing web comic strip Doubtsourcing to create a series of print and online ads. The companies are joining forces to reach an ethnic audience that itself is evolving its brand consumption habits and losing touch with antiquated overly direct ethnic messages.
The deal came together when Rebtel’s marketing agency of record EthnikPR began to dig into its base of emerging media brands and took notice of the increasing popularity of the Doubtsourcing comic strip. Doubtsourcing’s animators, Monsoon, developed three web concepts and two print ad concepts that combine Rebtel’s identity as a straightforward, straight talking calling company with many humorous sentiments within Indian-American culture such as Bollywood, an Indian mother making callers feel guilty for not calling home.
The first web campaign will focus on the reasons for calling family and friends back in India, whether it’s a bad date or telling mom that you’ve been eating well, the ad highlights some of the ways NRIs spend their minutes calling home. The second campaign features a fast speaking Desi and a tongue twister that you’ll be challenged to complete. The third ad is also tied in with one of the print ads, and features a forlorn mother wondering why you aren’t calling her. Rebtel realizes that many of its users are brought to its service by their need to connect to their loved ones and the print and online ads remind users to “Call Your Mom.”
Monsoon has also created a Faux-Bollywood print ad having Rebtel’s CEO Hjalmar Winbladh ‘dishooming’ (the sound a Bollywood hero makes when punching a villain) rip off plans. The ad is a take-off of the style of old-school Bollywood film posters and is sure to stand out from the ads readers usually see in the Indian American press but with the Swedish CEO in the middle of posse of sexy, hip, and turbaned young Desis. “We’re excited to show the Indian American community that we’ve arrived offering the best service, the best prices with no rip-offs or fine print,” said Rebtel’s Greg Spector. “The innovative style of the creative really fits with the innovative style of Rebtel.”
“As a media company that rarely takes on corporate advertising programs, we really needed to blown away with a brand and service, states Monsoon CEO Sandeep Sood.”Rebtel is exactly that type of service that our community reacts which is all about saving money without sacrificing quality.”
Rebtel has been covered in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the International Herald-Tribune and USA Today among other publications.
The ads will run across North America in South Asian American media outlets, online and via viral marketing campaigns developed by EthnikPR.
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