FMCG leaders in emerging markets often face a choice between speed and scale, assuming they cannot have both.
The reality is that with the right infrastructure, global brands are launching complex multichannel campaigns in weeks instead of months and seeing immediate, measurable returns.
In this Telerivet article, we walk through one of our most profitable playbooks. We'll cover:
Success in emerging markets often relies on bridging the gap between physical products and digital engagement.
One global FMCG brand demonstrated exactly how to close this loop by deploying a high-volume rewards campaign that fundamentally changed their relationship with retailers and end consumers.
Faced with a fragmented market and the need to drive volume quickly, the brand moved away from traditional static advertising and embraced a dynamic, mobile-first approach.
The core mechanic was simple yet effective.
The brand attached unique codes to physical product packaging. Customers who purchased the item could redeem these codes via SMS or WhatsApp to receive immediate digital rewards, such as mobile airtime.
This eliminated the logistical nightmare of distributing physical prizes while creating an instant gratification loop that encouraged immediate repurchase.
The results validated the strategy almost immediately.
The campaign generated over $28.2 million in additional retail sales, directly attributed to the rewards mechanism.
Even more impressively, the brand saw a 5% increase in total market share during the campaign period. The redemption rate averaged 86%, proving that the barrier to entry for consumers was low enough to drive mass adoption.
Perhaps most critical for future planning, the brand grew its retailer database by 526%. This data capture transformed a one-off sales spike into a permanent asset.
Operational efficiency was equally strong, with the campaign launching in just two to four weeks - a fraction of the typical six-month timeline - and achieving a 24% reduction in cost per acquisition.
While the immediate revenue boost of $28.2 million grabs headlines, the true value of this orchestration playbook lies in the long-term assets the brand acquired.
Traditional FMCG sales are often blind; brands sell to distributors who sell to retailers who sell to anonymous consumers.
This campaign broke that cycle.
By requiring a mobile interaction to claim a reward, the brand converted anonymous cash transactions into identifiable first-party data.
The 526% growth in their retailer and consumer database represents a shift in power.
The brand now owns a direct line of communication to the people buying and selling their products. This massively increased marketable database means the team can run countless follow-up campaigns without paying for third-party media or renting access to their own audience.
They can trigger seasonal offers, announce new products, or survey customers directly through the channels they already use daily.
Further, the high redemption rate signals a shift in customer behavior toward loyalty. The campaign did not just drive a single purchase; it trained consumers to associate the brand with consistent value.
This increase in repeat purchases illustrates a loyalty that grows aggregate customer lifetime value (CLV), leading to higher margins over time. Additionally, the consequent growth in market share naturally boosts word of mouth, lowering future customer acquisition costs (CAC).
The brand is now building an owned ecosystem where every dollar spent on rewards compounds into long-term retention and lower marketing overheads.
The success of this campaign was not accidental.
It was the result of combining clear strategic planning with a flexible technical foundation. The brand understood that in their specific markets, internet data can be expensive or unreliable, but mobile connectivity is ubiquitous.
They needed a mechanism that worked as well on a basic feature phone as it did on a smartphone. This led to the decision to use SMS as a primary channel, with WhatsApp available for users who preferred rich messaging.
To execute this, the brand worked closely with Telerivet’s solutions architects.
Rather than trying to build a custom software stack from scratch - a process that introduces massive delays and technical risk - they utilized Telerivet’s existing infrastructure. This collaboration allowed them to scope the project based on real-world constraints, ensuring that the technology served the business goal rather than complicating it.
Crucially, the brand prioritized reliability over novelty. They implemented automatic failover logic. If a message failed to deliver on a data-dependent channel like WhatsApp, the system automatically rerouted it via SMS.
This ensured that no customer was left frustrated by a missing reward code.
Reporting and analytics were not an afterthought; they were built into the deployment from day one, allowing the team to monitor redemption rates in real time. Finally, speed was the defining factor. By using Telerivet's reusable templates and pre-built campaign logic, they went from concept to live market execution in weeks, seizing the market opportunity while competitors were still in the planning phase.
The "bottle cap" or "on-pack" promotion is a classic FMCG tactic, but modernizing it requires a seamless flow of data.
The playbook functioned through a strict loop of trigger, verification, reward, and capture. It began in the physical world: a customer purchased a product and found a unique alphanumeric code inside the packaging or under a cap.
The customer then initiated the digital workflow by sending that code to the brand via a designated SMS shortcode or WhatsApp number. This acted as the trigger.
Instantly, Telerivet’s platform received the incoming message and validated the code against a secure database to prevent fraud or duplicate redemptions. Once verified, the system triggered an automated payout.
The customer received mobile airtime or a mobile money transfer within seconds. This speed was essential for trust; a delay in rewards often leads to a drop in participation.
Simultaneously, the system captured the interaction details. The customer's phone number, location (based on area code or routing), and purchase frequency were stored in a central repository.
Brand managers could access this data through an intuitive dashboard. Instead of wrestling with spreadsheets from different SMS providers or marketing agencies, the team had a single view of the campaign’s health. This dashboard allowed them to manage workflows across different customer segments and channels, giving them the ability to pause, scale, or adjust the campaign parameters instantly based on live performance data.
At its core, communication orchestration is the infrastructure that makes complex engagement look simple to the end user.
It creates the ability to manage thousands of simultaneous conversations across different channels without manual intervention. In technical terms, it is the layer that coordinates channels, routes, workflows, and data so communication keeps running smoothly even as organizations scale up their volume.
A communication orchestration platform like Telerivet serves as the central hub for these operations.
It is a single environment where teams can access and coordinate all their communication options: SMS, WhatsApp, Voice, USSD, and more. This eliminates the need to toggle between a gateway provider for SMS, a separate tool for chat apps, and a CRM for data storage.
Everything is accessible from one place.
This consolidation provides critical operational control, allowing brands to route messages through different local gateways to optimize for cost or deliverability.
The platform is designed for flexibility. It can function as a standalone tool for teams that need to launch immediately, or it can act as an interface sitting on top of a larger enterprise stack, integrating via API with existing CRMs or ERPs.
This ensures that regardless of a company's current technical setup, they can rely on one tool to handle the logic of customer communication. Without a platform like this, brands risk losing track of campaigns, missing messages, and fracturing their data.
Orchestration ensures that every interaction is tracked, every dollar is accounted for, and every campaign contributes to a compounding advantage.
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