Where, oh, where have the great Telecom ads gone?

By Deborah Hill Cone

Friday 4th June 2004

Has one of the country's biggest advertisers, Telecom, got stuck in a marketing timewarp?

It's still using the cute animals campaign more than 10 years old for pricing offers on its landline business, while its mobile division has tried a number of attempts to sex itself up.

One of them, the infamous TM campaign for Telecom Mobile, from DesignWorks, was such a dog you dare not mention its name around Telecom people even though people responsible for it are not even around anymore.

Then there was the embarrassing switch-over campaign that backfired and caused a talkback furore Telecom was forced to give its toll call customers the same discount bribe as new customers.

And most recently it had to back down over its all-you-can-text deal.

In between there have been bits and bobs of different ca mpaigns, different approaches for various parts of the business everything from the toenail painting pitch for videoconferencing to testimonials from business customers.

What happened to the big bold branding initiatives Telecom was famous for in the 1990s? In fact, you might say there has been little sign of the kind of ideas likely to make Telecom a "lovemark," as Kevin Roberts of Telecom's own agency, Saatchi & Saatchi, would put it.

"It's been a long time since the father-and-son campaign with Cat Stevens," one source close to Telecom said.

Telecom has been with Saatchi & Saatchi literally forever since it was part of New Zealand Post and although there are perennial rumours that the relationship is rocky, the bond holds on.

Three years ago Telecom's online business, Xtra, tried to break away instigating a pitch process but lost its nerve or got pulled back in line and ended up staying put at Saatchi & Saatchi.

As expected, the attempts to keep Telecom within the Saatchi fold are taken very seriously at the agency.

Under the agency's new regime with Andrew Stone in charge, one of Telecom chief executive Theresa Gattung's former colleagues, Cindy Mitchener, has been brought in as a consultant. The pair worked together aeons ago at TVNZ.

Saatchi & Saatchi's resident guru, Roberts, keeps a close eye on the business recently commenting during his Lovemarks book launch in Auckland that he had just been meeting personally with Gattung.

Telecom general manager of marketing Kevin Kenrick, like Roberts a former Lion Breweries executive, has also been given the KR treatment in the adman's second-home in New York.

But industry sources, especially those who would kill for a telco account, wonder where the great work is.

Kenrick said 10 years ago the products Telecom was selling were very simple "just about making phone calls" which allowed the marketing to be more emotive.

In today's market, the company had to explain products and services, which meant more rational messages. "[But] we absolutely have an aspiration to produce the most loved commercials," Kenrick said.

Asked whether Telecom was a lovemark, Kenrick said some of the advertising it had done around Xtra was very powerful, such as the TVC of the man in China keeping in touch with his pregnant wife, although he acknowledged that ad dated from a couple of years ago.

Kenrick said continuing to use the animals campaign made sense because it was so effective. "You put on an image of an animal and a soundtrack and within two seconds everyone knows it is a Telecom pricing offer."

Telecom's advertising had a role to play in educating consumers about technology and products, rather than just being "cheeky and warm and making people feel good."

Kenrick said Vodafone's marketing made a fascinating case study as the brand was built on youth appeal, which would make it hard for it to broaden into other market segments.

"It is hard to be seen as dependable and reliable when you have got imagery of a naked guy spraying himself with shaving foam."

A former account director on the Telecom account, Tim Martin, said in the dogfight in the mobile market, Telecom was holding its end up quite well against Vodafone, a competitor with global connections and international resources.

"It's really hard for it to take on a global giant like Vodafone. Telecom is a small New Zealand company [in comparison.]"

It was easy for Vodafone to focus on its brand value of being "fun" because it operated only in the mobile market, whereas Telecom had to cover all segments of the market.

The market had changed since the days when Telecom did huge brand campaigns such as Spot.

"I wouldn't say Telecom is losing. I think the past few years, although it has not been seen above the surface in the marketplace, there has been a huge amount of progress."

Martin said Telecom was a small player in the Australian market as a whole.

"All the cards are stacked against them."

Kenrick said telcos had changed from being service-based to becoming more in need of a fast moving consumer good (FMCG) style of marketing, which meant a portfolio of brands and more focus on retail.

But whatever the changes, it is still a coveted piece of business.

As an advertising source put it:"I don't think there's an agency in town that wouldn't salivate at getting the Telecom account."

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