Frontline telco Airtel Nigeria has made a bold move to capture a chunk of the country’s youth with a powerful new campaign that positions it as “the best friends network.”

The 2012 Airtel brand thematic campaign unveiled this afternoon at Sheraton Hotel &Towers, Ikeja, Lagos, celebrates the creativity and spirit of enterprise of the modern-day Nigerian youth. It is built around the theme of friendship and highlights the penchant of young Nigerians to bond with each other and celebrate their successes with friends.

“We can achieve a lot as individuals but things happen faster when we have the support of friends,” said Airtel Nigeria’s Chief Operating Officer, Deepak Srivastava. “The campaign is meant to celebrate the power of friendship,” Srivastava (shown in photo) added.

Unveiling the campaign, Airtel Nigeria’s Chief Marketing Officer, Olu Akanmu, praised the creativity and resourcefulness of Nigerian youths. He highlighted the groundbreaking achievements of youths who have risen from the slums of Nigeria to become international music stars, big sports stars and celebrated models.

“We want to celebrate the youths of Nigeria: their music, their creativity, their exploits in the world of sports and fashion, their enterprise,” Akanmu stated. He disclosed that the new campaign was arrived at after research.

Graced by a team of Airtel top shots that included Emeka Oparah, Director, Corporate Communications & CSR, the event featured a drama sketch and a performance by Half Dollar, an upcoming Nigerian artiste being used as the ambassador of the new campaign.

Airtel at the event allayed fears of possible network congestion as a result of the new campaign. “We have enough capacity,” said COO Srivastava. “We have the capacity to sustain 40 million lines but our subscriber base has just crossed the 21 million.”