M1 marketing director P. Supramaniam said: "In the past, the battle was fought over reliable coverage and call quality. That era is over. Mobile telcos will compete on which has the most exciting services and which is the most compelling company."
Developed by TBWA\Singapore, the campaign is based around how people could maximise the thousands of hours they spend waiting, queuing or commuting in life, by using their mobile phones in many new ways - getting the latest world news, checking stock performance, playing games, even saying "I do".
"Our intention is to give customers a simple message with which everyone can empathise," Supramaniam said. "These 'typical life statistics' are used to get people thinking about how much downtime they have and what they can do in all that time, since their mobiles are always with them."
M1 just announced a net profit increase of 10.3 per cent to S$142 million (US$83 million). Its market share as at the end of November 2003, however, declined further to 30.9 per cent (or 1.068 million customers), from 33 per cent in 2002 and 34 per cent in 2001. But Supramaniam said, "We are not focused on market share. Our attention is on building shareholder value and profitability." M1 did raise the dividend payout following the latest 10.3 per cent increase in net profit.
The new campaign, which has a new brand anthem, 'My town', moves forward from the previous 'Everywhere under the sun' campaign. It covers TV, print, buses, trains posters and in-store POPs.
Justin Barry, CEO, TBWA\Singapore said, "The campaign was a highly collaborative effort between M1 and TBWA. We worked very closely together and it has been a great campaign on which to start our relationship."
TBWA\Singapore won the contract last year from DDB, which held the account for five years.