EE ENTERS NEW ERA WITH BIGGEST BRAND LAUNCH IN A DECADE

• Expanding from traditional telecoms to broader subscription services, new EE launches with a mission to play a more meaningful role serving more parts of its customers’ lives
• In a story of true marketing-led business transformation, today’s launch marks a new and exciting era for EE as the UK’s most personal, customer-focused brand, with a refreshed brand identity and the biggest above the line campaign since the brand launched in 2012
• New EE launches with a nationwide campaign created to address customer needs - Home, Learn, Work and Game - from 20th October, spanning TVC, cinema, OOH, print, radio, social, digital, BVOD, OLV and experiential activations, all built alongside totally new customer communications, digital experiences, retail environment and content ecosystem

After over a decade spent as the UK’s biggest and fastest mobile network with UK market leading full fibre broadband, EE is broadening its horizons from traditional telecommunications services, and transforming this household brand ready for a new and exciting era as the UK’s largest subscription business. Built on the fundamental ambition to become the most personal and customer-focused technology brand in the UK, EE will share the news with the nation this Friday in the biggest brand campaign the business has embarked on since it first launched in 2012.

New EE promises to inspire and free the innovator in everyone so that we can all find out how good we can be. This promise will be achieved by offering customers the best performing network to build their lives on, brilliantly simple tools to improve everyday life, personal and inspirational service, and a long-term commitment to a rewarding relationship with each and every customer.

In this landmark shift for the brand, EE has rebuilt its business from inside out based on the current and future needs of its customers. Following extensive customer research, the four focus areas for new EE will be game, home, learn and work; a suite of exciting products and services open to all UK consumers have been developed to improve customers everyday lives in these areas, all underpinned by UK market leading products EE 5G and EE Full Fibre. This shift is the next step on EE’s journey to becoming the lead consumer brand for BT Group.

All of these new products and services will be available on a new EE ID digital platform. Set up through the EE App, EE ID offers a gateway for customers into EE’s portfolio of products and services including consumer electronics and insurance, regardless of which mobile or home broadband network they’re on. Instead of being identified by a mobile or landline number, consumers can now set up a Verified Digital ID in the EE app that will allow them to easily manage their EE services, all in one place. 

New EE will be revealed this Friday 20^th October in a pivotal multi-channel campaign showcasing how EE will help to elevate the everyday in Home, Learn, Work and Game. A nationwide advertising and experiential campaign will roll out, alongside redesigned retail experience, customer communications, social media and editorial content with a completely new look and feel, leaving the UK with no doubt that ‘new EE is here’ and ‘new EE does more’.

To develop, communicate and launch the reimagined brand, EE worked with a number of agencies including its long term creative partner, Publicis Groupe UK, engaging a tailored cross-agency team to support EE in its development of the new positioning. The overall brand vision and architecture of the new need states, and the multi-media and integrated launch campaign employed expertise from Saatchi & Saatchi, Digitas, Boomerang, Publicis•Poke, Zag and Prodigious to successfully pull together multi-channel customer communications, search, innovative digital tools, brand identity, social, retail stores, product & services positioning, purpose and production into this campaign. Media and audience planning was led by EssenceMediacom, sponsorship and activation by Havas Play and PR by M&C Saatchi Talk and The Academy.

Christian Thrane, MD of Marketing at EE said: “Building on our foundation in delivering best in class connectivity, we want to redefine the way our customers interact with us for all their connectivity needs, in and out of the home. To do this, we have built a new brand that plays a bigger, more relevant and more personal role in our customers lives; a brand that, despite using the same colours and logo, will show up very differently, doing far more than simply the mobile and broadband we’re currently known for.

We will be putting our customers at the heart of our brand campaigns; featuring real UK families from all walks of life; our new TV adverts will bring to life the new roles EE will play in our customers lives. The brand has come a long way since the iconic 2012 launch campaign ‘six degrees of Kevin Bacon’; although his familiar face won’t feature in the TV campaigns, his instantly recognisable voice will still help us to tell these stories.”

Richard Huntingdon, CSO of Saatchi & Saatchi said “We are beyond excited about the launch of new EE. It genuinely shows what we mean by marketing led business transformation at Publicis Groupe UK. A complete reinvention of the entire customer experience built from the brand out and designed to serve more of our customers’ lives with new products, services and experiences.”

The new marketing campaign, spanning above and below the line, physical and digital experience and paid, owned and earned channels launches with multi-media creative and integrated communications centred around four key ‘need states’, identified and developed around new EE customer’s core needs for the brand:

HOME

The first of the launch campaign narratives illustrates the benefits of EE’s WiFi controls for families struggling with the universal saga of bedtime. The energetic film, set to iconic British anthem Insomnia by Faithless, depicts children wreaking havoc at bedtime in the homes of families up and down the country; as the ad reaches its crescendo in a fast paced montage of young faces determined to ignore their despairing families, the film demonstrates how harmony can be restored with the simple swipe of a finger, as parents use EE WiFi controls to switch off their kids devices and get them to drift off to sleep. Bespoke DOOH, OOH, print and social executions offer expert advice for parents and families to educate on how to effectively use EE WiFi controls.

GAME

The second of these street cast spots representing the diverse faces of the nation by featuring real people, rather than actors, will show the UK how to level up their gaming with Game Mode on EE. Once again grabbing the attention of viewers with another iconic British soundtrack – It’s Not Over Yet by The Klaxons - the film is set on a dreary Sunday conveying a feeling of boredom as the many protagonists clock watch their way through the afternoon. There is a palpable change in tempo as the viewer sees ‘Game Mode’ activated, broadband bandwidth prioritised, and the day transformed into ‘Sunday Funday’ with each of the featured households engaged in an epic gaming session. The game narrative also sits across hero DOOH and OOH, print, social, in retail including dedicated gaming bays, and informs a number of interactive online digital tools and guides to support parents manage age-appropriate purchases for their children.  

LEARN

The third brand campaign that will go live at launch across TV and cinema captures the teenage experience. Capturing the sense of freedom felt up and down the country as the final school bell rings, the fast-paced cinematic edit, set to So We Are Here by Bloc Party, also sensitively shows the multitude of ways young people are using technology during this daily window of time, including the challenges faced. The film highlights an opportunity for the UK to discover all that EE Learn has to offer. Alongside the film, new EE features a learning tool partnership with Calm, and bespoke DOOH, OOH, print and social executions.

This weekend, the integrated campaign will also see an experiential roadshow roll out in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Manchester and Newcastle. Announcing the arrival of new EE, the interactive pop up created by agency partner Havas Play, will be open from 8am-6pm each day (Friday 20^th – Sunday 22^nd October) offering passersby the opportunity to play to win prizes from Samsung, Microsoft, Google Play, Beats, Verisure and Lenovo.

ENDS