The telecommunications giant is set to make summer 2025 extraordinary with hot new deals, customer service offerings, and superb connectivity.
“We want our customers to have an extraordinary summer,” Rishaad Tayob, Consumer Business Unit Director, Vodacom South Africa, explains. “We do a summer campaign every year, and we didn’t want another cookie-cutter version of what we did last year.”
In order to make this possible, the company set out to listen to its customers’ needs, and the feedback was crystal clear. Tayob breaks down the three customer desires they identified, and how this year’s Vodacom Extra Your Summer promotion makes that possible.
Firstly, many people still found data costs prohibitively high for their needs. In response, Tayob says, “This summer you’ll probably see our best offers in the market,” signalling the company’s commitment to easing the financial burden faced by many South Africans by delivering tangible value at competitive prices.
The big news is an exclusive Extra Your Summer deal, only available through VodaPay. For just R99, Vodacom prepaid customers get 7.5 GB Anytime data, 7.5GB NightOwl data and 5GB Youtube data, plus 100 VodaBucks. That’s around R200 value for half that price, valid for 30 days.
Rashid Tar-Mohamed, the Managing Executive of Products and Services and the Postpaid Centre of Excellence, said, “This year, we felt the need to include our postpaid customers.“ For customers on a contract, there are various new deals on offer, like a 200GB contract for just R299 monthly.
There is now a tiered rewards system for postpaid customers based on their level of spending. This gives customers access to better discounts, lifestyle benefits and exclusive partner offers.
The second key insight from customer feedback was the need for excellent service, whether speaking to a call centre agent or visiting a store. In response, Vodacom launched an internal campaign called Ask Once. “We’re really taking this to heart,’ says Tayob. ‘We want to ensure that when customers contact us, they only need to explain their issue once, and we’ll take it from there.”
Thirdly, users expressed that they wanted to be constantly connected, regardless of where they were or what they were using their data for. Vodacom’s response is to keep investing in its physical infrastructure. “When it comes to the network, we will be investing 12 billion rand in the coming 12 months,” Tayob says. He explains that this matches a previous 12 billion put towards this. The company has also accelerated 4G and 5G rollout in underserved areas.
The Vodacom team took the name of the promotion very seriously by adding extra deals and surprises throughout. For instance, prepaid customers who choose any of the summer data deals will get access to Youtube Premium for two months for free. Also, Vodacom customers who recharge will get access to 12 months Prime Video Mobile Edition, and 20GB worth of data for free. Post-paid customers also get access to these services, for instance, when they upgrade their contract.
All of this is available on the VodaPay app. This is also where VodaBucks can be spent or converted into cash. There’s also a huge amount of daily prizes up for grabs, from coffee vouchers to a million Rand in cash.
Also, customers who spend R120 are entitled to free funeral cover valued at R10,000 at no additional cost.
RED VIP subscribers also get some special deals. They will earn 50% more VodaBucks per rand spent, and will receive access to Amazon Prime Video for as long as they are a subscriber.
The impact of Vodacom’s work goes beyond its immediate customers. For instance, the Vodacom Youth Academy has trained over 1,700 young people in ICT skills over the years, while the Code Like a Girl project has trained over 10,000 girls in coding and digital literacy. The company’s community impact also encompasses women’s empowerment, for instance by training female farmers in digital literacy and over 2,000 survivor of Gender-Based Violence with digital skills.
The summer deals are live now, but some of the changes are set to last beyond the warm days of the season. Tayob says that some of the value in data pricing is set to stay a feature for a longer time. As he says, “Summer is the start of our journey down this path.”