Vodacom Integrated Report 2017

Our goal is to ensure that Vodacom is the customer

brand of choice, with a brand that reflects our core

purpose of helping everybody live a better today and

build a better tomorrow. Our brand promise is ‘power to

you’, which we will achieve by democratising Internet

access and bridging the digital divide in the

communities we serve. We strive to build trust with

our stakeholders by ensuring customer excellence

and developing a deserved reputation for being a

sustainability pioneer and a leader in transformation

and Black Economic Empowerment.

Brand and reputation leadership

Having a strong brand that clearly and consistently communicates

our core purpose, and that reflects our leadership in social

transformation and sustainability, is a critical foundation of our

Vision 2020 strategy.

This year, we have continued to drive a unified and consistent

brand across all our operations, with a key development being the

successful rebranding of our DRC operations to Vodacom’s iconic

red. The strength of the Vodacom brand, and our reputational

leadership, is demonstrated through the various external

accolades and awards that we received this year across different

markets and consumer segments:

Vodacom won the Grand Prix prize for overall favourite brand in

the Sunday Times Top Brands Awards, and was rated best

telecommunications provider in both the consumer and

business categories;  

South African youth once again voted Vodacom as the ‘coolest’

telecoms provider in the Sunday Times Generation Next leading

annual youth brand preference and consumer behaviour survey;

We were rated as the second most valuable brand in South Africa

by Brand SA;

Vodacom was ranked the most reputable company in the

South African telecommunications sector, and ranked

fourth overall in the annual Mail & Guardian Top Companies

Reputation Index (TCRI); and

We were also ranked as South Africa’s most reputable company

in the telecoms sector by the 2016 RepTrak Pulse reputation

survey results released by Reputation House.

Notwithstanding this existing brand and reputation leadership, we

recognise that we cannot rest easy. It is essential that we retain a

strong focus on understanding and addressing the material

interests of our stakeholders, especially on ‘hot topics’ such as the

cost of data, rural coverage and socioeconomic transformation. As

reviewed earlier in the report (pages 16 – 17), we engage regularly

with stakeholders to ascertain their interests, and are

implementing various initiatives aimed at building trust with our

stakeholders, driving down the cost of data, increasing access to

digital services, and promoting social transformation.

We track Vodacom’s reputation, and levels of stakeholder trust,

through various means. In addition to monitoring NPS, we

commission an independent research company to conduct an

annual corporate Reputation survey with internal and external

stakeholders to benchmark our reputation against our

competitors in the mobile telecommunications market and

another leading brand. This year, Vodacom retained its number

one position as a reputational leader in the telecommunications

sector, with stakeholders rating us higher than our peers and other

non-telecommunications brands across all our markets.

Our Reputation Index performance

Reputation Index

2017

2016

Relative

position

South Africa

7.9^

7.5

Tanzania

8.4

7.9

DRC

7.5

7.6

Mozambique

8.3

8.3

Lesotho

8.1

8.4

^ These items were the subject of the limited assurance engagement performed

by KPMG.

vodacom

For more information on the methodology undertaken for this

survey, please refer to the KPI assurance definition report at

www.vodacom.com

our brand

and reputation

We will be a purpose-driven brand with a deserved

reputation for leadership in driving social progress

through transformational solutions.

Our strategic performance

Vodacom Group Limited

Integrated report for the year ended 31 March 2017