O2 MARKETING STRATEGY

O2 Marketing Strategy



Table of Contents

Outline of the Study3

Launch Strategy3

Growing up - a shift in strategy4

Risky Business7

O2 Experiential Marketing8

O2 Using Customer Data to Increase Revenues9

O2's Happy Homes Advertising Campaign13

Competing on customer experience consequently means "orchestrating all the customer experience15

O2 Database marketing18

Bibliography20

O2 Marketing Strategy

Outline of the Study

The UK mobile market is fiercely competitive, with high levels of customer churn. With little brand loyalty and many mobile companies offering similar handset and airtime deals, it's often cheaper for customers to switch operators regularly.

O2 UK is one of Britain's largest mobile phone operators, with more than 17.8 million customers, but it needed to reduce its churn levels.

Launch Strategy

According to Kavassalis; O2 set out to become the most 'enabling' brand in the market, with the spirit of 'Can do' providing more ways in which the customer can work, play, communicate. This idea of putting customers, not the product, first, has always meant that O2 doesn't try to force-feed consumers with product information (Kavassalis 2005:30)

Only complete integration would allow the brand to achieve the difficult task of driving short-term initiatives and sales, whilst building a long-term brand. The campaign began with a brand ad to introduce the brand ethos to consumers but was quickly replaced by a series of product ads, each one a demonstration of the 'Can do' philosophy, wrapping the product communication up in the brand. (Forbes 2003b:14)

Growing up - a shift in strategy

According to Forbes; With little left in the market as true differentiators, and with over 90% of the population owning a mobile phone, growth was not likely to come easily through further penetration. The real areas of innovation and competition have become price, service and brand affinity. (Forbes 2003a:15)

O2 recognised the need to reward and improve relationships with its existing customers, as opposed to focusing on acquiring more, and adopted a strategy to focus on improving customers' experience of interacting with the brand and rewarding them for their loyalty. This strategy was encapsulated in the launch of our 'World that revolves Around You' campaign in April 2005. (Kavassalis 2005:10)

In this respect, O2's focus on customer loyalty and retention has been one of its most important innovations. Focusing on rewards, brand affinity and reducing the rate of defection has helped propel O2 into market leadership and upped the ante in the always-intense mobile phone war. This comes through even more clearly in the most recent campaign designed to further put the customer at the heart of the brand 'It's Your O2. See What You Can Do', launched in April 2006. (Rettie 2005:45)

O2 has achieved a lot in its short four-year life. Rising to clear UK market leadership by the end of 2005, and commanding an £18 billion price tag in its acquisition in early 2006, it is clearly a brand on the ascendancy. O2's strong and consistent visual identity continues to pay dividends with their effective share of voice consistently outweighing their actual share of voice, despite a declining spend and in a more competitive ...