The Context:
By 2024, 5G had been operating in Kazakhstan for two years, with sufficient coverage established and strong awareness of the technology built among consumers. Altel, one of the first operators to pioneer 5G in the country, set an even more ambitious goal – to shape an entirely new product category: home 5G based on Fixed Wireless Access (FWA).
The Challenge:
Home 5G (FWA) is a new and unfamiliar technology for most Kazakhstani consumers. People don’t believe that the internet can be fast and stable without cables, and buying a router seems complicated and expensive — especially for a conservative audience aged 30+ in smaller towns.
The Solution:
We embedded home 5G into Kazakhstan’s cultural code — through beshbarmak, the national dish. We launched a magenta-colored zhayma (a traditional Kazakh dish) in Altel’s brand colors, featuring a QR code linking to an educational video and a special offer: a router for just 1 tenge. Altel became the first telecom operator whose ad campaign landed on grocery shelves — and straight into the kitchen.
The Results:
• +20% router requests (month-over-month);
• +4 pp in 5G Awareness and +3 pp in FWA Awareness;
• Entire batch of BESHG (2,024 units) sold out in one week;
• CPM 45% lower than benchmark;
• 1.2M reach, 117K influencer video views, viral media coverage.