SYDNEY: Australia's dominant telecommunications player, Telstra,
has moved to trim its media expenses with the launch of a new integrated
campaign which, for the first time, addresses all business units.
Abandoning its long-running "Making Life Easier" campaign, Telstra has
launched a new strategy built around a creative use of numbers. Called
the "Consumer Segment" campaign, the concept was 15 months in
development and is scheduled to run for at least the next year.
It is ambitiously targeted towards all of Australia's demographics and
geographies within Telstra's consumer market.
The concept will be rolled out through all media with tailored
executions for each of Telstra's customer business units, including
Telstra On Air, Country Wide, Telstra shops and retail.
"It is the first time Telstra has implemented an across-company campaign
with this level of consistency of theme in all business units," Telstra
director consumer marketing Simon Froude said. He added that the
extensive scope of the campaign and its duration were budgeted to
produce "some efficiencies and hence savings". Early executions include
a TVC showing Telstra's numbers at a training camp, while another TVC
depicts a Telstra Shop staffer showing a customer how to make his
numbers work for him.
The numbers themselves have been imbued with certain strengths - such as
leadership for number one and sophistication for number eight - which
will develop over the life of the campaign.
Existing campaigns such as the mobile TVCs featuring singer John Farnham
and manager Glenn Wheatley will also be integrated into the new
concept.
Meanwhile, Telstra has also been forging new alliances on its business
front, recently securing the right to broadcast AFL on the internet in a
deal which reportedly cost A$30 million (US$14.7 million).
The five-year contract enables Telstra to broadcast AFL visual, audio
and text through the internet and its mobile phone service.
