"You Said It"

Brand: Turkcell Corporate Communications, Media & Brand Management Director: Mustafa Alcan Brand Management & Communication Associate Director: Mustafa Küçükkalıpçı Brand Management & Communication Brand Managers: Doğan Kurt, Korhan Alkan, Merve Bulduk Cinisli, Dilara Çalıkoğlu Production Managers: Tuğba Özkan, Hakan Pamukçu Digital Communication Associate Director: Taha Güvendi Digital Communication Brand Manager: Damla Tütüncü, Fuat Şahin Media Planning & Performance Management Associate Director: Dilek Kafalı Media Planning & Performans Marketing Manager: Cem Cevlek Marketing Communications Excellence Associate Director: Özlem Beyenirsoy Marketing Communications Excellence Brand Manager: Merve Çetintaş Agency: Rafineri CCO: Emre Kaplan ECD: Can Erdoğan Creative Director: Cihan Akköse, Ozan Aslan Creative Group Head: Haydar Öztürk, Ezgi Yıldırım Creative Team: Uğurcan Sezen, Serdar Çelik, Aylin Atabay, Alp Aktaş, Mutlualp Dirik, Berna Ünverdi, Barış Şirin, Ayşe İdil Doğan Vice President – Account Management: Ekin Kutevu Account Management Team: Çağla Ishak, Derin Doğru, Ceyda Akalın Öztürk, Sena Şenay, Eren Eliş Vice President – Strategy: Zühre Erdoğan Strategy: Ege Ayakduran, Furkan Özgür Production Team: Açelya Ülkümen, Baran Çetin, Caner Yıldırım, Atakan Uysalbaş

While different countries made the switch to 5G at different times, Türkiye's transition came only this year — having skipped 4G entirely and jumped straight from 3G to 4.5G technology. All three operators — Turkcell, Türk Telekom and Vodafone — participated in the spectrum tender and Turkcell secured the most advantageous deal, making significant investments in both coverage and capacity, reaffirming its position as the undisputed industry leader. 5G signal day was approaching in a crowded, creatively exhausted landscape. Every operator was telling the same story of speed and connectivity, leaving little room for differentiation. Turkcell's challenge was to cut through the noise and make its launch unmissable. The solution was bold: partner with global icon Shaquille O'Neal and build the campaign around an unscripted moment — when asked why he was visiting Türkiye, Shaq improvised "hair transplant," instantly making global headlines. Rather than correcting the story, Turkcell leaned into it, turning the viral moment into the campaign itself. The tagline, "like Shaq" carries a double meaning in Turkish: "Shaq diye" echoes "şak diye," a common Turkish expression for something happening instantly and with impact — making it the perfect metaphor for 5G speed. The results proved the strategy right. The campaign reached a total of 118.5 million people across channels. The GB-quintupling mechanic was activated by 7 million users within the first 24 hours. Subscriber acquisition rose 1.9x compared to the previous month — confirming that in a sea of sameness, Turkcell's 5G launch was impossible to ignore.