How Talk360 Became the Talk of the Town with MotionAds

Talk360 is a global calling app that enables users to make affordable international calls to any mobile or landline number, even if the recipient doesn’t have the app. With a footprint in over 200 countries, Talk360 makes reliable cross-border communication accessible to anyone, particularly in emerging markets. The company is on a mission to break down barriers to connectivity while building brand trust and awareness in new territories.

Talk360 had been using radio and digital advertising, but those alone weren’t enough. Traditional outdoor media like billboards and street-pole ads were both expensive and logistically difficult to secure, which made them a suboptimal channel for reaching high-density target areas. 

They also needed to expand their referral/agent network without incurring high costs or admin overhead. They were searching for a solution that could simultaneously amplify their brand message and grow their customer base through agents. 

Jonathan Katende from Talk360 summarized the challenge:

“We wanted to gain broad exposure of our brand while converting new customers.”

MotionAds provided a multi-layered solution that addressed both brand visibility and agent recruitment. Branded delivery bikes with top boxes acted as “moving billboards” across high-traffic areas, including Johannesburg CBD, Pretoria CBD, and Cape Town’s Northern Suburbs. Data-driven targeting was central: GPS tracking, hotspot mapping, and the Uber Eats driver network were used to identify high-potential zones and assign drivers strategically.

Drivers themselves became part of the recruitment effort, distributing flyers with each delivery to encourage people to become Talk360 Agents. Flyers included unique QR codes to track sign-ups per driver. One driver, Neville M, demonstrated the power of the referral network: he signed up several agents himself, and one of those agents went on to refer additional new agents, proving the strategy’s compounding effect.

The campaign began with a two-month pilot. Following strong initial performance, it was extended by three months and scaled to over 25 bikes, including Cape Town’s Northern Suburbs. Jonathan Katende, Talk 360's Head of Growth, explained the expansion: “We believed in the concept and I was of the opinion that this could give us the additional push to target our new customers.”

A key advantage of this “Ambassador strategy” was how effortless it was for Talk360: no extra logistics or administrative burden was required for the built-in Salesforce. Normally, building and managing a sales team like this would be costly and labour-intensive, but outsourcing to MotionAds allowed Talk360 to skip the hassle and immediately reap the rewards.

The campaign delivered strong, measurable outcomes. In six months, it achieved over 30 million brand impressions. The fleet of bikes covered 175,480 kilometres, and 37,862 flyers were hand-delivered. 

Talk360 recorded a 167% increase in customer acquisition and 130% growth in revenue in 2022. Additionally, the agent network grew by 33%, partly thanks to the drivers becoming Talk360 Agents. The campaign also played a role in helping Talk360 secure an additional R53 million in seed round funding just five months after the campaign began.

Jonathan Katende reflected on impact:

“We got the results we were hoping for, especially at a brand awareness level. A few people that I know sent me pictures of the bikes on the road which was gratifying to see.”

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