Skype provides a fundamental challenge to the mobile market, potentially offering consumers an infinite amount of free calls to anywhere in the world.
Whilst the other UK mobile networks have chosen to ignore or limit the new technology, 3 have fully embraced the possibilities Skype provides. Hundreds of thousands of their customers already benefit from the service on their phones every single day, and the network has already carried over 353 million minutes of calls and saved their customers over £42 million so far.
'Communication through the internet is exploding,' says 3 CEO Kevin Russell. 'Internet calling or VoIP, social networking, instant messaging and email are used by millions in the UK every single day. They are open to all on their PCs and laptops. We want people to be free to communicate from their mobiles in the same way as they do from their PCs.'
The first campaign to support 3's new brand thinking, developed by glue, worked around the insights that people are firstly highly skeptical of big claims by brands (especially telcos), and secondly skeptical of 3 and what they stood for. By addressing these concerns head-on 3 are able to build trust and position itself as an honest, open and progressive company that is open for feedback. The campaign therefore focuses on answering the questions we know the public will have about the 'free calls forever' offering made possible with Skype on 3.
To promote Skype on 3, glue have created an integrated campaign which will air on television, radio, online, in social media and outdoor, distinguishing 3 as a forward thinking telecommunications brand, under the strap line 'Changing Mobile Forever'.
The campaign includes a 30 and 60 second TV ad, the company's first in more than 18 months, starring actor Jason Hicks, a real life 3 customer who uses Skype on his 3 phone to stay in contact with his family in Barbados. Directed by award winning director Max Vitali and written by Seb Royce, glue's Creative Director, it was shot over the course of two days in West London and serves as a public manifesto for the brand, marking the start of 3's assault on the UK mobile market.
Alan Doyle, 3's Head of Integrated marketing says: 'First the campaign focuses on our free Skype forever offer. Later stages will see the introduction of yet more products and tariffs that will challenge some fundamental barriers in the mobile market.'
The marketing drive also includes radio, digital and outdoor executions, and will run for an initial two months. Glue also worked with Skype to develop a friend finder Facebook application that ensures all users are able to find more of their friends to call for free. The application creates a directory of friends within the social network, which then links directly to Skype.
As well as developing the lead creative routes for the brand campaign, glue's responsibilities also included managing the PR strategy to underpin the campaign alongside 3 Monkeys and 1000Heads to ensure that the campaign message and ads drove positive word of mouth. We also oversaw work developed within 3's web design, in store, direct acquisition, customer communications, internal communications and third party retail teams to deliver a consistent strategic message.
Over time, more offerings will be launched with increasing public involvement and in a way that paints an inspiring vision for where 3 is going while directly addressing suspicions. This way, 3 will be understood as the challenging, mobile consumer champion that it is.
