ORANGE APPEAL
Orange has always had a reputation for breaking the mould in its products and advertising, so it was no surprise when the company became official sponsor of the colourful Cirque du Soleil in London. Jeremy Thwaites reports on an innovative campaign
Since the launch of Orange in April 1994, the battle among airtime providers has rarely been out of the public eye. Expensive and bold above-the-line campaigns are largely responsible, but well-conceived below-the-line initiatives can also make an important contribution to brand objectives.
Those who saw Cirque du Soleil’s “Saltimbanco” at the Royal Albert Hall last month could not have missed Orange’s presence as the official sponsor.
The mixture of theatre, dance, acrobatics and music dominated the centre of the hall with a series of colourful acts. The London shows attracted more than 100,000 spectators and extra dates were added to cope with demand.
The opportunity was brought to Orange’s attention in early 1995 by sales promotion and sponsorship agency Marketing Perspectives.
After hearing the proposal, and seeing one of the performances in Berlin, Orange decided this was the right property for it to sponsor.
“We could see immediately that it reflected Orange’s brand characteristics – innovation, integ-rity, simplicity, optimism,” says spokesman Mark Humphrey.
At this point, Orange would have liked to have been the title sponsor, but Cirque was looking for a company that could offer a pan-European deal. “Computer company Digital was already involved with Cirque in other European countries, so we settled on being official sponsor for the London shows.”
Branding on standard publicity material for the show had to defer to the title sponsor, so the challenge for Orange was to maximise the opportunity within its own sponsorship category.
Audience leaflets on every seat balanced the interests of the two parties by offering 2,500 worth of the latest communications equipment in a prize draw. This consisted of Digital’s HiNote Ultra notebook PC, an Orange Nokia phone and an Orange fax and data card.
Posters in all Orange dealers serving the London area allowed communication to dealers and customers alike. Marketing Perspectives creative director Stephen Hummel was keen to use them to communicate the strong relevance of the brand. “The trickiest part was conveying Orange’s ownership of the event, so that they sat together well, and it didn’t seem like an add-on,” he says.
The copy lines “alluring, staggering, aspiring, wondering” all appear in the distinctive Orange typeface. The simplicity of style and message is rooted in the brand itself.
The internal communications message was rammed homed to the 3,500 staff at parent Hutchison Telecom who received a Christmas card reading, “Who are we sponsoring this Christmas?”, telling them about the shows and giving them the chance to win 50 pairs of tickets.
Despite the small scale of the deal – 20,000 for the sponsorship – Orange felt it was extremely valuable. “It gave us a way of testing at a sensible level of investment. Of course, you also have to spend two or three times this sum to exploit the opportunity. The title sponsorship would have cost about five times that amount,” adds Humphrey.
“There are many situations in which we wouldn’t want to be anything other than title sponsor. But there were considerable benefits from this, not just in the area of hospitality. There are similarities with Digital and its hi-tech products, and the prize draw enabled us to promote the concept of the mobile office.
“In addition, there have been benefits outside the sponsorship itself, through Cirque’s media partners, Virgin Radio and The Daily Telegraph. The posters highlighted the chance of booking tickets through the Virgin Directory. We use the Orange network to set up one number for all Virgin listeners nationally to book tickets and get entertainment information. There is great compatibility between our two brands.”
Orange’s sponsorship activity has a distinct role to play in its marketing strategy. The company now has almost 400,000 subscribers and claims to be available to about 85 per cent of the UK population, with plans to raise this to 92 per cent by the middle of this year. These figures are disputed by the network’s rivals, Cellnet and Vodafone. Orange’s above-the-line advertising focuses on key product advantages, and the sponsorship has developed brand characteristics.
“Orange should be seen as using technology to help the customer, and keeping it simple,” says Humphrey. This explains the 1994 campaign, which emphasised that Orange charges by the second, and the 1995 claim, “We’ve always got room for your call” (apparently an engaged signal on other networks can indicate a traffic jam on the airwaves). A further example is the “Caller ID” facility. This identifies the caller when an Orange subscriber is being called by a BT or Orange phone.
Claims of this sort are at the centre of the battle for subscribers. Competitor Cellnet claims 98 per cent coverage and has made this a key message. Orange is quick to point out, however, that while this may be true of its analogue network, it does not believe it can be true of Cellnet’s digital network – the only ground on the two compete with. Moreover, Cellnet’s coverage figures, says Orange, are based on using boosted car kits rather than hand portables.
The consumer can be forgiven for being a little confused. Even more so when confronted by deals offering phones at 9.99, as some operators do, when the cheapest phone for use on the Orange network is 49.99. “Our ethos,” maintains Humphrey, “is to be affordable but not cheap. These inexpensive deals offer low cost of entry, but a high cost of ownership.” Resulting call charges of up to 1 per minute, he says, have brought the industry into disrepute.
“Straight talking, with nothing to hide”, is how he describes Orange’s controversial pre-Christmas campaign. It resulted in a writ being issued by Vodafone, which said its claim that Orange users could save on average 20 a month was unlawful. Orange is confident its conclusions are valid.
As a marketer, one major difference between Orange (and Mercury One2One, for that matter) and its competitors is that it has a direct relationship with its customers. There is no intermediary service provider buying airtime wholesale and selling it on. This allows a direct marketing programme using vehicles such as its own magazine.
In November 1995, it also introduced Horizons, a service allowing Orange subscribers significant discounts on a range of goods and services. By calling one number and specifying the goods required, they are put directly in touch with the supplier.
Last month, Orange announced that it would float in the middle of March, putting its place in the UK market – which currently stands at 5 million mobile phones – into the spotlight.
The company will not speculate about future marketing, but using its sponsorship activity as a guide, it seems to have found a definite direction. Discussions are taking place to expand the Cirque opportunity next year, and the recently launched Orange Prize for Fiction will enhance its brand values in another arena.
With a prize of 30,000 from an anonymous donor, it will be Britain’s largest book prize, and will honour the best novel of the year written by a woman. To be awarded in May, it will also be judged by an all-female panel, causing some controversy in literary and journalistic circles. Orange is funding all the costs, after Mitsubishi pulled out with concerns over the controversy.
Orange is not afraid to “stimulate and energise the debate”. Lisa Gernon, group director of marketing at Hutchison Telecom, emphasises that Orange determined from the outset to create a genuine brand, in an industry where the competitors were simply communications companies. As such, Orange appears set to continue its tradition of breaking the mould into 1996 and beyond.
