The other day I had a chance to have a teleconference with the Senior Marketing Director at Fido, the one and only Steven Sarfin. I spoke to him about the new campaign to show people the many uses of “Fido Dollars” and why Fido is therefore your best choice for all your mobile needs and why it is better for the average consumer than the “Tab Contracts” many of their competitors offer.

“What are Fido Dollars?,” you ask. Well that is what the entire campaign is all about! Letting people know about Fido Dollars and their many uses. You see, Fido Dollars have been around for years and years but they were one of those on-the-down-low awesome things Fido did for its customers. According to figures quoted to me, only about 25% of people were even aware the Fido Dollars program existed before the beginning of the ad campaign. The way Fido Dollars work is that each month, 5% of the eligible fees on your bill are calculated and returned to your account as Fido Dollars. The Fido Dollars can be used for: Fido phones, prepaid airtime (in $20 increments), or to pay for the first month or two of a Voice or a Data Add-on.

Steven told me about how the new marketing campaign is showing up all around Canada, you’ve probably seen the signs, the counter with the counters telling how many millions of dollars have been given to customers so far, sort of like a very well known fast-food company. The idea behind the ad campaign, Steven said, is to educate customers about the existence of the Fido Dollars program. Like I said, the Fido Dollars program is not a well known one so Fido wanted to educate customers and potential customers alike about their existence. Mr Sarfin mentioned how “rewarding customers is a very important core value for Fido”. He also mentioned that the knowledge of the Fido Dollars program has been very encouraging in recent months and years encouraging people to join Fido as opposed to the competition.

Steven Sarfin made very clear, however, that Fido did not believe that tabs are bad, they are just different from the option Fido offers in Fido Dollars. They are not intending to be overly aggressive and not trying to “diss” anyone else. Fido merely wants to make clear that, “they were the 1st brand to democratize cellular service”. They also want to show the value of going on a plan with Fido as opposed to going on a Tab contract. He also mentioned how on top of that they were the first provider in Canada to offer truly unlimited text messaging and not just calling it unlimited and putting a (in theory) high limit.

I really enjoyed speaking with Steven Sarfin and look forward to seeing where all this goes. As somewhat of a cell phone geek (OK I’m a big cell phone geek) and having used Fido for many years - full disclosure: my first cell phone was a Fido phone in 1999 - I always found I had to tell my friends who were Fido customers about them when it came to them getting stuff from Fido. I also am not surprised that this is turning out to impact people’s decisions about which provider they go with. While the tab is a different type of plan and also has its own merits for a lot of people the idea of Fido Dollars is very appealing and just letting people know about it is key to getting them in the store.

For More Info:

Fido’s No Tab Microsite English here

Fido’s No Tab Microsite French here

Fido Dollars FAQ here