Telecom tugs at heartstrings

Dean Taylor says people are surprisingly sceptical of new technology and intolerant of technical problems.

In the hit-and-miss world of technology advertising, there's a big advantage in not being first to market with an expensive campaign.

That's what advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi found as it embarked on one of the most ambitious campaigns of the year - launching Telecom's third generation mobile network which offers high data speeds on the move and a range of new services for consumers and business users.

The road to 3G is littered with the blueprints of creative directors. Of those expensive ads that made it to print or air, extolling the virtues of faster mobile services, there are an even mix of successes and failures.

But with the Telecom "T3G" ads showing up on our screens at the moment, one clear theme emerges - Telecom is appealing to our patriotic spirit and trying to build brand awareness in a way it has never done before.

Focusing on the technology wasn't an option.

"The reality is, 3G is a way to move data," said Dean Taylor, a British ad veteran who has been recruited to head the Telecom account at Saatchi & Saatchi.

"And the mass market isn't tolerant of technical problems. People are surprisingly sceptical of new technology. It's the fallout from the hype of 3G."

The message had to be simple and eclipse that of Telecom's arch-rival Vodafone, which Taylor tips his hat to, while saying it has alienated some with its advertising.

"Only a certain type of person is invited to their party. With Telecom, everyone gets to be invited because it's New Zealand's company," he said.

"We also wanted something a bit more emotional and children are the future."

That may not sit well with Kiwis aware of Telecom's monopoly position in the telecoms market, but the company is increasingly playing a nationalistic game to fend off fierce competition from its global competitor.

"There's been a lot of negativity around Telecom but it's a New Zealand company. People want it to be leading the investment in getting all of the country connected," said Taylor.

Vodafone is spending $400 million on its 3G network and its advertising firm, Lowe, is keeping tight-lipped about its upcoming 3G campaign, likely to kick off next year.

The two Telecom ads screening were made by Silverscreen Productions and involved 400 children, many of them the offspring of Telecom workers.

The children walked across a green field allowing Queen St to be overlaid in post-production against a "green screen" to give the appearance of a march along Queen St.

"Are you coming with us?" The cute girl asks at the end of the advert. Another features a hyperactive kid - "fast Eddie" - downloading his email in a cafe.

Clowns were brought in to keep the children occupied during the tiring shoot.

Telecom's campaign may be heavily patriotic, but it drew on global research by Taylor and his team.

Saatchi looked at a range of campaigns, from the successful Chiat/Day created ads for the iPod to campaigns run by British operators Virgin Mobile and O2.

Initially focusing on the most alluring feature, video telephony, international 3G operator Hutchison changed tack as it realised video telephony was a niche service and not the real selling point of 3G.

Hutchison was initially hit with a shortage of handsets and problems with dropped calls in key markets such as Australia.

It soon found cheap voice plans rather than video phonecalls won subscribers.

Phase two pushed the cheap voice calling angle, but the third part of the ad campaign reverted to "brand-level" themes.

"They effectively did a relaunch to get greater credibility," said Taylor.

With T3G, Telecom had gone for brand awareness.

Nielsen Media Research statistics show telecommunications advertising spending from January to October this year came to $44.5 million.

Mobile phone makers such as Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Kyocera share in that total, but most is spent by Vodafone and Telecom on various campaigns.

Telecom has spent $12.1 million this year on its "GO27" campaign while Vodafone has contributed $10.4 million in its consumer-focused media spend.

The Vodafone Live service was boosted by $4.1 million in advertising while the business-focused "Mobilise" campaign totted up a $4.3 million ad spend.

With its fixed-line business contributing most of its profitability, Telecom also spends heavily in that area, pumping up segments such as Xtra Jetstream, flat-rate international call plans and its recent Business Anytime plans.

Last year, the telco's total ad spend across print, radio and TV hit $61 million. In comparison, Vodafone spent $32.7 million. The ad spend on T3G will become obvious over the next few months while Vodafone's spend is likely to jump next year when its 3G campaign begins.

All of that makes telecoms one of the most lucrative advertising segments and one likely to remain buoyant as advances in technology and increasing competition keep marketeers returning to the drawing board to dream up new telco campaigns.

Taylor says the T3G campaign will diversify in the coming months but declines to give details.

Video telephony may get a dedicated campaign but the big obvious consumer pitch may be in the area of "push to talk", a service which allows subscribers to use their phones as one-way walkie talkies to send short voice messages at a lower cost than making a call.

The service has exploded in the US, pioneered by Nextel.

One of the kids in the T3G ads is wielding a push-to-talk phone.

Taylor said feedback on the adverts, which have screened extensively on TV and form the basis of billboards all over Auckland, show they had been well received.

"Everyone we've heard from is saying they are emotional and involving.

"It's also not something people were expecting from Telecom," said Taylor.

"We're extremely proud of that work."