Orange is hoping to forge close relationships with customers by delivering what is “essential” to each individual, as part of a new brand plan announced this week.

The mobile operator unveiled its ‘Essentials2020’ strategy to refresh the 20-year-old Orange brand, centred on a pledge to “always be on hand to connect people to what is essential to them”.

Essentials2020 is based around five primary “drivers”, including a desire to offer “richer connectivity”, to “reinvent” the customer relationship, to become a “people-orientated” employer, and to capitalise on revenue opportunities presented by innovations in data and financial services.

The company is aiming to contribute more than €1bn to the group’s revenues from new products by 2018, as well as tripling its data speeds over the coming three years, and migrating the majority of its customer interactions to digital channels.

Essential themes

From a marketing perspective, Orange will promote its services through six “essential themes” which it believes represent the desires of its customers: ‘Wellbeing’, ‘Family’, ‘Work’, ‘Money’, ‘Home’ and ‘Fun’.

While its famous orange logo remains, branding agency Wolff Olins has created a new series of “frames and pop-outs” to represent the six categories, including a heart shape for ‘Wellbeing’ and a briefcase shape for ‘Work’.

The new brand strategy will be launched through an international ad campaign created by Publicis. TV, print and digital ads, including Instagram activity, will kick off in France, Poland and Spain, before rolling out to the remainder of Orange’s 29 markets across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

A series of three films, shot from a birds-eye view perspective, will focus on Orange’s ‘Fun’ (see above), ‘Home’ and ‘Family’ propositions.

According to Wolff Olins global principal Morgan Holt, although the Orange brand has “something really special”, its credentials “don’t really hold enough” with digital audiences. “There’s a spirit of usefulness which is essential to any brand now,” he said.

The “closeness and humanity” of the Orange brand will now be combined with a greater focus on what is “essential in people’s lives”, added Holt.

Digital age

Speaking exclusively to M&M Global, Orange’s global director of corporate brand Anne Imbert (pictured above), admitted the time was right to update the brand for the digital age.

“The Orange brand is a great brand, but was created in the UK over 20 years ago, in a world that was not yet digital, and this evolution has changed everything we do,” she said. “We had a feeling the time was right for a change. We felt we had to be more digital, and to put the customer at the centre of all we do.”

With mobile networks in danger of being seen as a commodity, Imbert agrees it is vital that Orange finds a way to differentiate itself from the competition and elevate its sense of usefulness.

“We are in a market which is quite challenging, and it is very difficult to differentiate. What we want to achieve is to build stronger relationships with customers, and to help customers in this complex digital world,” she said.

“Telco brands have a really strong role to play, bring customers something useful and relevant to them. Our role is to be always in touch with what is essential in people’s lives. It sounds a simple sentence, but it is vital we are a trusted partner.”

Imbert added that the new brand plan marks a “step-change” for Orange in terms of how it manages its brand internationally: “For sure, it’s the most major shift since we launched the Orange brand in 1994.

“We wanted a brand which served our global ambitions. Markets are different, and it is true we are facing different challenges, but our analysis has told us we have commonality across markets as well.”