Telecom's new branding and language

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Telecom's new branding and language

steve98

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#136319 22-Nov-2013 22:06

I have to get this off my chest. Telecom's new branding is dire. The pink, the yellow, the green, the orange. The shouty capital letters and typeface that was stolen from TV2. The website looks a mess - half new branding, half old.

I ordered a 4G SIM the other day and cringed when I received a confirmation email today which opened with "Dear Steve, Woohoo! Are you ready for rad?!?" (And yes, those are their question and exclamation marks, not mine).

Am I ready? For 'rad'? I don't think anybody has been ready for 'rad' since 1992. What's next, 'Cowabunga'? And then the email was signed off by dear old "Maureen" with their traditional signature, instantly destroying any sense of actual coolness. I was horrified by this email. This is not the Telecom I signed up with.

Obviously they think that by changing some fonts and colours and using the kind of patronising language they imagine the yoof may be using that they can suddenly come across as cool. But... they're Telecom. We know them better than that. We don't even want them to be cool. This just comes across as embarrassing old Uncle Telecom having a mid-life crisis. And worse than that... It's unprofessional looking.

I don't know but this branding seems terribly misguided to me. There is always a place and a value for the 'conservative' telco with the professional image, and if Telecom want to desert that post then somebody else will just come along and fill it.

My 2c. Anyone else have an opinion?

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#939305 22-Nov-2013 22:08

Started when they hired a 5 year old to scribble up a logo for them a few years back

alasta

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#939307 22-Nov-2013 22:12

I don't understand why telcos go out of their way to appeal to under 25s. They're very expensive to support and their ARPU is very low.

freitasm

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#939340 22-Nov-2013 23:45

steve98: The website looks a mess - half new branding, half old.

A little bird told me they have a new website coming out soon - should've been earlier this month but a bit delayed.

Talkiet

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#939352 23-Nov-2013 00:30

steve98: [snip] What's next, 'Cowabunga'? And then the email was signed off by dear old "Maureen" with their traditional signature, instantly destroying any sense of actual coolness. [snip]

Sheesh Man, if you knew Maureen you wouldn't be dissin'...

At least it's not as bad as Trademe's "Your account needs some love".. I figuratively (1) barfed when I read that the first time...

Cheers - N

(1) I watch Archer and subscribe to the classically true meanings of literally and figuratively

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

steve98

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#939366 23-Nov-2013 05:40

Talkiet: At least it's not as bad as Trademe's "Your account needs some love".. I figuratively (1) barfed when I read that the first time...

Oh but it is. At least it's consistent with the fun and playful branding that we're used to from Trademe. AND it doesn't use the word 'rad'.

Apologies to Maureen. I'm sure she's bodacious.

MikeB4

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#939367 23-Nov-2013 06:32

I don't care how and what they say, I do care that their services are delivered successfully and consistently. Actions speak louder than words and to date they have met my expectations well.
If they can show a human side and have some fun on the way all is good.

stevenz

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#939528 23-Nov-2013 17:03

Their opposition is just as bad though. Maybe they think that if they get the customers when they're teenagers they'll stick with them in perpetuity, and not just jump ship when another company has a better deal?

At least they used "Rad" instead of "Awesome", although I'm sure that's in there somewhere as it seems to be a required term in any marketing these days.

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Kyanar

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#939750 24-Nov-2013 08:32

stevenz: Their opposition is just as bad though. Maybe they think that if they get the customers when they're teenagers they'll stick with them in perpetuity, and not just jump ship when another company has a better deal?

At least they used "Rad" instead of "Awesome", although I'm sure that's in there somewhere as it seems to be a required term in any marketing these days.

Found it. http://store.telecom.co.nz/mobile/4g

"Your mobile's pretty awesome"

Hmm, maybe a game of "poorly targeted marketing bingo" is in order.

Yyrael

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#940236 25-Nov-2013 12:07

steve98: I have to get this off my chest. Telecom's new branding is dire. The pink, the yellow, the green, the orange. The shouty capital letters and typeface that was stolen from TV2. The website looks a mess - half new branding, half old.

I ordered a 4G SIM the other day and cringed when I received a confirmation email today which opened with "Dear Steve, Woohoo! Are you ready for rad?!?" (And yes, those are their question and exclamation marks, not mine).

Am I ready? For 'rad'? I don't think anybody has been ready for 'rad' since 1992. What's next, 'Cowabunga'? And then the email was signed off by dear old "Maureen" with their traditional signature, instantly destroying any sense of actual coolness. I was horrified by this email. This is not the Telecom I signed up with.

Obviously they think that by changing some fonts and colours and using the kind of patronising language they imagine the yoof may be using that they can suddenly come across as cool. But... they're Telecom. We know them better than that. We don't even want them to be cool. This just comes across as embarrassing old Uncle Telecom having a mid-life crisis. And worse than that... It's unprofessional looking.

I don't know but this branding seems terribly misguided to me. There is always a place and a value for the 'conservative' telco with the professional image, and if Telecom want to desert that post then somebody else will just come along and fill it.

My 2c. Anyone else have an opinion?

One of the more amusing reasons we were told for the change was that in market research a lot of people who were not familiar with NZ phone companies identified Telecom stores as pharmacies :P

steve98

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#940256 25-Nov-2013 12:29

Yyrael:
steve98: I have to get this off my chest. Telecom's new branding is dire. The pink, the yellow, the green, the orange. The shouty capital letters and typeface that was stolen from TV2. The website looks a mess - half new branding, half old.

I ordered a 4G SIM the other day and cringed when I received a confirmation email today which opened with "Dear Steve, Woohoo! Are you ready for rad?!?" (And yes, those are their question and exclamation marks, not mine).

Am I ready? For 'rad'? I don't think anybody has been ready for 'rad' since 1992. What's next, 'Cowabunga'? And then the email was signed off by dear old "Maureen" with their traditional signature, instantly destroying any sense of actual coolness. I was horrified by this email. This is not the Telecom I signed up with.

Obviously they think that by changing some fonts and colours and using the kind of patronising language they imagine the yoof may be using that they can suddenly come across as cool. But... they're Telecom. We know them better than that. We don't even want them to be cool. This just comes across as embarrassing old Uncle Telecom having a mid-life crisis. And worse than that... It's unprofessional looking.

I don't know but this branding seems terribly misguided to me. There is always a place and a value for the 'conservative' telco with the professional image, and if Telecom want to desert that post then somebody else will just come along and fill it.

My 2c. Anyone else have an opinion?

One of the more amusing reasons we were told for the change was that in market research a lot of people who were not familiar with NZ phone companies identified Telecom stores as pharmacies :P

Wow really? The Telecom Stores as they are right now look amazing, in my opinion. One of the more successful things that Telecom have done. I shudder to think how they might change them to fit with their new branding.

Benjip

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#940317 25-Nov-2013 13:14

I personally love the new branding. I find it a lot better than the old, safe "cute animals" and "happy families" rubbish they used to put out.

The short, punchy taglines are quite eye-catching in billboard format too (things like "1GB FREE WI-FI EVERY DAY"). I find it especially refreshing when compared to Vodafone and Skinny's offerings, where the billboards have screeds of text jammed into them showing all the details and T&Cs of their plans.

Matsta

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#940356 25-Nov-2013 14:15

steve98:
Yyrael:
steve98: I have to get this off my chest. Telecom's new branding is dire. The pink, the yellow, the green, the orange. The shouty capital letters and typeface that was stolen from TV2. The website looks a mess - half new branding, half old.

I ordered a 4G SIM the other day and cringed when I received a confirmation email today which opened with "Dear Steve, Woohoo! Are you ready for rad?!?" (And yes, those are their question and exclamation marks, not mine).

Am I ready? For 'rad'? I don't think anybody has been ready for 'rad' since 1992. What's next, 'Cowabunga'? And then the email was signed off by dear old "Maureen" with their traditional signature, instantly destroying any sense of actual coolness. I was horrified by this email. This is not the Telecom I signed up with.

Obviously they think that by changing some fonts and colours and using the kind of patronising language they imagine the yoof may be using that they can suddenly come across as cool. But... they're Telecom. We know them better than that. We don't even want them to be cool. This just comes across as embarrassing old Uncle Telecom having a mid-life crisis. And worse than that... It's unprofessional looking.

I don't know but this branding seems terribly misguided to me. There is always a place and a value for the 'conservative' telco with the professional image, and if Telecom want to desert that post then somebody else will just come along and fill it.

My 2c. Anyone else have an opinion?

One of the more amusing reasons we were told for the change was that in market research a lot of people who were not familiar with NZ phone companies identified Telecom stores as pharmacies :P

Wow really? The Telecom Stores as they are right now look amazing, in my opinion. One of the more successful things that Telecom have done. I shudder to think how they might change them to fit with their new branding.

I know who's in charge of designing their stores :) Don't think they will be changing them anytime soon however.

From what I know, they have bought all their marketing in-house. Previously they farmed it out, but this new 4G campaign looks like it's all in-house. I think it's ok, is it missing a bit of polish though.

On the other hand the new Skinny branding is absolutely horrendous. Definitely can tell that's in-house.

minigopher17

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#940358 25-Nov-2013 14:19

Matsta: From what I know, they have bought all their marketing in-house. Previously they farmed it out, but this new 4G campaign is all in house.

You need a better source.

gingereejit

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#941812 27-Nov-2013 15:54

I thought appealing to the yoof market was the point of spinning off Skinny as a MVNO?

Although, just reading about the Skinny rebrand, dropping the yoof focus - and moving to be a mainstream budget player

gingereejit

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#941819 27-Nov-2013 16:19

minigopher17:
Matsta: From what I know, they have bought all their marketing in-house. Previously they farmed it out, but this new 4G campaign is all in house.

You need a better source.

Indeed, bottom of the NBR Skinny rebrand article in Aug, "Like Telecom, Skinny uses ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi, as well as in-house services for it's marketing"

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