Dear EE,
Thank you for New EE. Both your comms and your propositions (Home, Game, Work, Learn), and the way you are weaving them together, are masterfully occupying the intersection of:
- human motivation (what people want/need)
- human behaviour (what people do)
- human culture (how real people live today)
Or put another way, thank you for creating value by making products and services that people want and need and then telling those people about them in a way that's distinctive and memorable because it's authentically familiar and deeply relatable.
Shit, it seems like your functions (Brand, Marketing, Comms, Innovation/Proposition, Insight, Technology and more no doubt) are not just talking to each other, but actually singing from the same strategic hymn sheet.
Amen to that!
Thank you for so clearly and consistently landing on the tell it, and show it, like it is side of the fence. I love the grittiness and the realness.
It feels in touch and of the moment. I'm no cinematographer, but the darkness and moodiness of the visual tone combined with the pent-up energy, seems reflective of the national mood.
Given your scale (25m customers is it?), the "mirror to reality" (as opposed to the "aspirational dream", a viable alternative approach that you could have taken) feels spot on.
It enables you to represent the diversity of your customer base in a meaningful and authentic way.
Your honesty and representation of the conflict that screens create across all aspects of daily life is refreshing.
Yes and, thank you for not just saying something refreshing (which is easy), but actually doing something substantive about it (which is much harder) with your Learn (or is it SmartLearn?) proposition.
Wow.
What a superbly precise proposition, brilliantly communicated.
As a customer, I get it.
And I don't even need to be on EE to get it. Time to switch?
And thank you, New EE, for getting so far onto the front foot in anticipation of the Vodafone:Three merger, which theoretically will knock you off #1 spot.
No crystal ball (sadly, obviously, enviously, oh the things I could do), but whilst they're inevitably faffing, I suspect your human-centric approach will put you in the best possible position to go about the essential marketing task of, you know, retaining existing customers and attracting new ones.
Oh yeah and a final thank you for the memory structure building consistency:
- the digital time flash in your distinctive EE font at the start of every ad
- awesome, I mean really very excellent soundtrack in every ad
- Kevin Bacon voiceover (for how long now?) in every ad.
Thanks again New EE - you've reaffirmed my credo that solid, market and customer orientated marketing with humans at the heart is not just smart, it's absolutely essential for a brand to connect meaningfully with its desired audience and thus, deliver the holy grail of marketing: Profitable Growth.
Ned