A Dissertation Submitted in partial Fulfillments of the Requirements for the
Degree of Master of Business Administration in Corporate Management (MBA-CM) of the Mzumbe University
The study was carried out to assess the influence of promotional activities on gaining
competitive advantage. The study had four research objectives which were to find
out the promotional strategies applied at Vodacom, to find out the advertisements
used by Vodacom, to examine the digital promotions being applied by Vodacom and
to assess the sales promotions utilized by Vodacom. This study was a case study type
the population from Vodacom Tanzania was employed as the key respondents. The
study involved a sample size of 46 respondents. The researcher used purposive
sampling technique in obtaining the sample size to ensure equal participation of
different type of respondents to make the study reliable and valid. In this study, data
were collected through questionnaires and interview. The researcher used factor
analysis modal and T-test in data analysis. Also both qualitative and quantitative
approaches were used in data presentation The findings shows that the major
promotional strategies which are being used by Vodacom are push and pull
strategies. It has been found that there are different kind of adverts which are
being used but they fall under two major categories which are electronic and
print adverts. The study shows that Vodacom uses popular TV and radio stations to
air out its adverts. However, the firm does not use cartoons for adverts. The digital
promotional techniques which are being applied are social media such as face
book and Instagram. It was also observed that the firm does make use of electronic
billboards. The sales promotion techniques being used by Vodacom are
sampling, price off, deal gifts, draws and scratch cards, use of coupons and
rewards as well as road shows to promote the brand.
It recommended that management of Vodacom should ensure effective integration of
communication tools to ensure that the intended objectives for all promotional tools
are achieved.