Few industries face the level of complexity and change that telecommunications do. It’s an industry that is always changing, where brands merge and lose identities and edge ever closer to utility status.
Three faced a vanilla brand image, decreasing margins, rising switching rates, increased customer inertia, increased competition from new entrants, and tightening regulations – all while being consistently outspent by competitors.
The greatest challenge that we faced was the erosion of Three's brand identity and the negative impact this was having on acquisition. While consumer reliance on connectivity grew, our brand lost meaning and people's attachment to their provider waned. Simply put, consumers underestimated the significance of connectivity and were taking it for granted. We needed to reverse this trend and elevate our brand from an invisible service to a valued provider. Stopping the decline in people's perceptions of the brand and beginning to play a larger role in their lives.
Unlocking growth would require a radical shift in people’s perceptions. We needed to show the importance of connection in people's lives. It’s been years since we’ve needed connection for just phone calls. From music to movies to navigation to photography, connection is essential for living fuller, more meaningful lives today. Without connection, there is nothing. The more emotional value we could attach to Three’s connectivity, the more realistic our hopes of retaining old customers, attracting new ones and strengthening our ability to compete in this challenging category.
We quickly identified two key jobs to be done: a) redefine our brand identity to secure a distinctive position in consumers’ minds, and b) define what we are known for to create memory structures around the brand.
Together with our agency partners and a little help from the principles of marketing guru Byron Sharp, we established 3 key memory structures: Data, Network and Music. These became our strategic north star with every piece of communication designed around reinforcing them in consumers’ minds. We adopted a ‘wear in’ strategy, meaning our campaigns were given more time in the market to resonate with consumers. We moved to a ‘practice, don’t preach’ model of communications, which involved “real world” demonstrations of the power of connected living that could be experienced as well as communicated. Proving to our audience that we weren’t just making promises about connectivity, we were delivering on it.
• +25% increase in Network Performance Perception
• +35% increase in Best Network for Data
• #1 brand associated with Music in Ireland
• 12% increase in Brand Health within 3 months
• 20+ ICAD awards
• ICAD Client of the Year
• 15+ Shark awards
• AIM Awards Campaign of the Year
• Silve & Bronze ADFX
• Gold Effies
For the first time, consumers could attach a set of positive emotions and perceptions to Three, and results were seen almost immediately. Network Performance perceptions increased +25% and Best Network for data +35%. To top it all off, Three also gained the position of the No.1 brand associated with music in Ireland. All of this laddered up to a +12% increase in Brand Health in the 3 months post-launch. And ever since, Brand Health has continued to grow – for every +1% gain in Brand Health growth, we see a corresponding percentage growth of 1,000+ new customers.
Brand purpose can’t just be words on a page, it has to be demonstrated in a way that emotionally resonates and rings true with customers. Focusing the business around this clear purpose and developing a platform to communicate it has proved that beyond any shadow of a doubt for Three Ireland. To build your bottom line, it first pays to build your brand.
