Over 15 cars, including a Toyota landcruiser, were what Etisalat required to increase its brand equity when the telecommunication firm which has hit 6.8 million subscribers level rewarded its trade partners for making the achievement possible.

The company which started with a subscriber base of less than 1.5 million witnessed its performance statistics increase appreciably in 2010 which made the Managing Director of the GSM firm, Steve Evans described the year as a watershed.

Encouraged by the high performance of the distributors and their contribution to the growth of the organisation, Etisalat rolled out various prizes to the business partners.

Over 15 cars, including a Toyota Landcruiser were given to distribution partners who exceeded set sales targets in the past one year. Other prizes given to outstanding distributors at the event which took place in Lagos include Mac laptops and printers and trip to Singapore.

He emphasised the need for a long term relationship with distribution partners as key to growth, stating that it will be a win-win strategy that will ultimately translate to greater value to subscribers.

Steven Evans in his speech commended the business drive of Etisalat’s partners in ensuring growth of the brand since the telecom launched operations in Nigeria about two years ago.

“I feel delighted to be in your midst today to share with you the joy of the success of your brand, Etisalat in Nigeria. When we arrived here just a few years ago, I looked at the vastness of Nigeria and was wondering how we were going to be able to cover the entire country. The United Arab Emirates where Etisalat originated is just the size of Niger State and so Nigeria represented a huge challenge. But we are glad to announce today that this vast map of Nigeria has increasingly been coloured in the Etisalat green,” Evans said.

The Etisalat boss expressed satisfaction with the acceptance of the brand by high and low end subscribers in Nigeria, promising that the company will rely on innovation to drive business and satisfy customers.