DigiTel – the Municipal Address for Your Business

The Challenge

Local businesses are a tremendous engine for the city, providing consumerism, culture, leisure, diversity, interest in the public space, municipal revenues, and more. The understanding that local businesses must be empowered is not new to the Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality, but it did receive a push forward under the auspices of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the one hand, COVID  dealt a severe blow to many businesses, and on the other hand, the crisis further exposed their necessity and contribution. The municipality sought new ways to encourage and promote businesses in its region.

Our Role

In this case, too, the PR and marketing processes were preceded by long-term strategic planning based on the municipal strengths that could be harnessed, as well as the needs of businesses – as indicated by the surveys and focus groups we conducted. From a marketing perspective, the process joined a series of similar efforts by the municipality, such as “DigiTel,” “DigiTel 60+”, “DigiTel for Soldiers and those in National Service” and so on – all designed to provide added value to their audiences. With all these in place, it was clear that the new commercial-oriented project under discussion should be packaged under “DigiTel Business,” a brand that already enjoys a positive image.

As part of its services, DigiTel Business provides business owners in the city with a wide range of services and “products” to help them do business more easily.

• First, DigiTel Business declared itself “the one address in the municipality for your business” and thus expedited the bureaucratic processes and effort of business owners vis-à-vis a multitude of municipal entities.
• The “What’s the Question?” service provides business owners with a digital platform through which they can find an answer to any question regarding policies and processes. What if no one has asked about a specific issue before? DigiTel Business offers a team tasked with providing the answer from the relevant unit in the municipality.
• In order to support and assist entrepreneurs and small businesses, a content and training program has been developed, accessible free of charge under the service “Studies from DigiTel Business.”
• In addition, businesses that were interested in receiving relevant information “by push” can sign up for Digitel Business’ mailing list and, once every two weeks, receive an update on traffic issues, renovations, grants, easements, and any other relevant issue initiated by municipal departments that can affect business activity in the city.
• DigiTel Business has partnered with the Tel Aviv Municipality’s DigiTel Club, which has over 250,000 residents, and created a convenient platform for advertising benefits and promotions of businesses from Tel Aviv-Jaffa.

The PR campaign was launched under the slogan: “From today, it’s easier to do business in Tel Aviv-Yafo.”