Page 13 - Sphere No.19 (Jun 2007)

SPHERE 11
How 3 spreads its message to the world
By Jon Marsh
Ad
Value
HAT DO PARIS
Hilton, string pup-
pets, the Australian
cricket team, lovers
entwined in silk and
a walking television set have in com-
mon? No, this is not the opening line of
a corny joke by a stand-up comedian or
a general knowledge question in a TV
game show. The answer is that they have
all appeared in advertisements promot-
ing the 3 brand’s telecom services.
The disparity of these images under-
lines the size and diversity of 3’s markets
around the world, where marketing and
communications teams are building re-
lationships with customers, deciding
whom to target, what to say to them,
and when and where to say it. It is a huge
challenge. As of March 2007, Hutchison
Whampoa’s3 brand had nearly 15million
subscribers in nine markets - Australia,
Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland,
Israel, Italy, Sweden and the UK.
Differentmarkets and different types of
media – print, television, outdoor, online
– need different strategies to promote a
variety of messages – lifestyle, products
or value; but the essence of the brand has
to be retained otherwise the message
can become lost or muddled.
The man with his hand on the rud-
der navigating the correct course of
3’s brand personality around the globe
is Keith Kirby, Director of Branding and
Culture at WHAM, a Hutchison Wham-
poa (Europe) company in London that
manages the 3 brand.
“There are some important principles
that underpin the 3 brand which are
shared by all of the operating compa-
nies,” he says. “This is the international
glue binding the elements of the brand
together. The 3 brand is built on what’s
real, what’s important right now. It is not
about promises of the future. It is op-
timistic about the future but its focus is
now. ‘Now, not never’, as we put it, bring-
ing together things that are useful with
things that are enjoyable.”
For example, the Silk creative used in 3
UK’sWest meets East campaign
featurestwoloversentwinedin
streams of coloured silk con-
necting them across vast dis-
tances. The emotion is almost
tangible but at the same time the ad
effectively delivers a simple message about
the “now, useful and enjoyable” theme.
Another key element that has to be
factored in is change. Telecom consumers
are increasingly sophisticated and their
tastes have evolved rapidly; what was a
“young” market when 3G services were
first launched four years ago can be quite
different in marketing terms in a surpris-
ingly short space of time.
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