Telstra drops loud, proud for quiet approach
The days of large-scale advertising campaigns trumpeting Telstra’s brand are overbecause they are a waste of time, reports The SMH’s marketing editor, Julian Lee, in the first interview with Mark Collis, the former advertising creative director since he joined Telstra in May as head of its creativity, innovation, brand strategyand customer experience team.
Collis said: ”I never really understand what brand campaigns are about. I used to question it at [Leo] Burnett and I am still doing so.”
Collis,who has held senior creative roles at the ad agencies Leo Burnett and Ogilvy,said future advertising needed to bring to life Telstra’s new brand idea, whichis centred on what it does for its 11 million customers rather than how it seesitself.
”Ourbrand essence is really around connection. We want to build our brand aroundthat,” he said.
Thenew corporate strapline that will appear in every bit of communication is”It’s how we connect”.
”Whatyou won’t see us doing though is going out with a big song and dance ormarching band ads. The advertising needs to be a window into what we aredoing,” Collis said.
16 Comments
“It’s how we connect”, How very original.
I get it, man, Telstra’s ads should be more like Corona’s.
I think the line has real flexibility.
It’s how we connect people, businesses, with mobiles, at home, online etc.
it mightn’t sound like a big idea, but it could easily become one.
Good luck turning that line into a positive customer experience.
Mark is shaking things up!
Re-tard. Communication = connection.
To all the detractors out there: Collis is living the dream. Going out and actually working into making a product better rather than just sugar coating or blatantly lying about it. Like the rest of us. Go Mark. Best of lucks.
thank god! it’s how we connect….can’t wait….please Mark stop wasting money on subcontractoring marketers who randomly call (this is fact as i confirmed with telstra today when they rang me randomly) mobile phones if your prefix is 0410 ( meaning a Voda customer) to offer you a deal…..how about spending those call centre marketing bucks to make better deals in the first place and tell us about those……
Finally! Some sense. That’s the only thing Telstra can hang their hat on right now.
And totally agree with bombastic brand ads. It’s ARCHAIC.
Looking forward to this.
Until now, Telstra has been defined by how they disconnect
Brand advertising isn’t about direct product sales, nor is it information based. Nobody wants a window into what you’re doing, Mark. They want to feel good about buying your product. In fact they want to feel compelled to buy your product to make their life all it can be. Irrational, but true.
Brand ads are at they’re best when they’re inspirational, when they make a customer feel as if buying your product is the right thing to do, because as a brand, your ideas, and therefore your products, are at a level that everyone aspires to be a part of. Look at Apple. Are their phones the best functioning, is their interface the easiest to use, are they the cheapest alternative on the market? Maybe and maybe not, but they have cornered the market on cool and must-have because they’ve put inspiration and design first.
The best Telstra brand work bar none was done for BigPond, and in depicting a rather dim but lovable father trying his best to help educate his son, and failing miserably in the process, they captured the public’s imagination, and took the horrible smell off the facts that Telstra provides the costliest, least customer friendly, most arrogant, and poorest functioning product in the marketplace. People don’t buy products, they buy ideas wrapped in emotions.
You’re right, Mark. You didn’t understand brand campaigns when you were at Burnetts, and you still don’t.
Well sumed up 6:46……if Telstra is building their brand around “how we connect” it could be a train wreck…..best of luck Mark, looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds.
“It’s how we connect”.
That’ll be White Pages’ line since 2008 – owned by Sensis which is owned by Telstra.
I guess the line has had a major promotion.
Good luck Mark.
Changing perceptions on what is quite possibly the most disliked brand in Australian history, other than One Nation, is a great challenge.
Sincerely, best of luck.
I’m a bit worried about how businesses think it’s cool to be so honest about how they’re going to bullshit the public, in a newspaper read by the public.
Whatever happened to never show the strategy in the ad, but make sure it’s the first thing they take away from the ad?
Aside from that, looks like Mark’s doing a good job so well done sir.
I don’t know Mark Collis but I do agree with his sentiments.
Let’s be honest… the ad structure is all a bit weird. Creatives push for awards, client service push for bonuses, and none of it is really in the best interests of the best way to sell more stuff.
Sometimes the super creative big budget campaigns hit but an unequal amount of the time they flop and die away; taking with them a few marketers’ heads along the way.
I’m not complaining about the ad structure, TV ad shoots and all that are nice, but if I owned or was in charge of a brand, I’d be doing the softly but sensibly approach that Mark appears to be taking.
That’s my 2 cents anyway.