"A secret team worked in parallel for Salt"

On April 23, 2015, the telecommunications company Orange Switzerland gave itself the new name "Salt." Publicis, Orange's longtime lead agency, was tasked with the Herculean task, which cost 40 million. Under the strictest secrecy, Publicis helped build the Salt brand starting in the fall of 2013 - while continuing to advertise for Orange. Curdin Janett, CEO of Publicis, was named "Advertiser of the Year 2015" by Werbewoche on Thursday, June 18, 2015. We spoke to the newly crowned "Advertiser of the Year" about the Effie-ready implementation of the Salt campaign. Read more about what being named "Advertiser of the Year 2015" means for Curdin Janett in Werbewoche 12/13, which will be published on July 10.

WW: Curdin Janett, in mid-May you could see a poster saying "Salt. 6 weeks return guarantee" So two weeks after the launch, people acted as if the name Salt was already in their minds. Was that really the case?
Curdin Janett: In fact, at that time we already had very pleasing survey results, which allowed us to talk about Salt offers and at the same time be sure that people knew who the sender was. The enormous media coverage around the launch contributed significantly to this. Both the Tagesschau and every regional paper reported on it. With the paid

Nevertheless, the message "Orange is now Salt" was only seen briefly. Why?
The intention was to anchor the brand change strongly, but as briefly as possible, because we wanted to say soon what the new brand stood for. We therefore communicated in four stages: First, we said that Orange no longer exists. Then, what it is now called, what it stands for, and what the brand offers.

How was the name received by the population?
I am not allowed to give any figures. But according to our weekly surveys, there were encouraging responses, especially to the questions "Are you interested in this brand?" and "Have you been switched to this brand?"

Were there more new subscribers than cancellations?
Salt will have to communicate the figures, but the launch was generally a complete success.

What do you currently emphasize in your communications?
We are currently targeting everyone who no longer wants to receive their cell phone bill on a monthly basis, but prefers to buy a pass or annual pass, as with their mobility subscription. The headline is: "Pass. The simplest subscription in Switzerland."

How did you go about creating the Salt campaign?
We wanted to create a brand that didn't just make big promises. That's why we didn't cast any models, but sent five photographers out on the prowl. They were supposed to take unnoticed pictures of people who were using their cell phones. Only afterwards did they inform them and ask for their addresses. Then, when we selected the pictures, we contacted the people again and told them which advertising medium they were intended for and that we would pay them something if they agreed to use them. In short, we didn't want to recreate reality, we wanted to find them on the street.

Publicis has been Orange's lead agency for a long time. When did you become involved in building the new Salt brand?
I was impressed by the fact that they didn't talk about Uber's design at the beginning. Instead, they talked about what was changing in the telecommunications market and in society, and how they would position and name their own brand if they had the opportunity to do so. In the beginning, the implementation was not yet decided. We didn't ask ourselves what we liked, but what would fit the brand we were building. This strategy was followed consistently.

Were you also involved in finding the name?
Only insofar as we were sitting in. However, Prophet, a renowned branding agency, took care of the naming itself and the basic corporate design.

How many people were involved on the part of Publicis?
At the very beginning, there were only three people - and the team remained quite small until fall 2014, when the actual implementation began. Because the project was under strict secrecy. We went very far in this regard: A secret team worked in parallel for Salt - with code names, in separate offices and on separate servers. Because it would have been bad for the team that continued to work for Orange to know that its work would soon become wastepaper.

The rebranding was not only a communications feat, but also a gigantic logistics task: 84 stores had to be redesigned, a website launched, company cars and cabs rebadged, and brochures printed.
We functioned as a kind of mixture of general contractor and "brand guardian," bringing in a total of 16 companies. Some had already been Orange partners before, others we suggested. For example, Blue Spirit implemented the POS measures and redesigned 84 stores in one weekend, Emakina and Divio were responsible for digital work. And all of them were under confidentiality.

Nevertheless, the Speculation about the name even before the launch.
Which was quite good, in my opinion, because then at the launch people were no longer just talking and writing about the name, but also about initial content and offerings.

The satirical program "26 Minutes" in French-speaking Switzerland announced "Salt" as the new Orange name back in February. How did it come about?
I would give a lot to know this. It was also astonishing that they knew the actual name, but that it didn't go any further - probably because it was assumed to be a joke. After all, the topic was in the air due to the change of ownership, and if Giacobbo/Müller had run the article, the NZZ probably wouldn't have jumped on it either.

How do you prevent a reversion to Orange "among the people"?
There can be no relapse, only the situation that the old name does not disappear. But the more a name is communicated via new offers, and even more so in a new way, the less this danger is. But one thing is clear: Orange's brand awareness will not fall to zero in three weeks, certainly not in western Switzerland, where a very strong Orange still exists in the neighboring country.

Publicis is the largest Swiss advertising agency. Is size - also in terms of personnel - a prerequisite for being able to pull off such a brand change?
For the creation, this probably doesn't play the decisive role. But the size was certainly an advantage when it came to having two teams working in parallel.

Publicis has won several awards for the Swiss "Seats for Switzerland" campaign. Would you briefly describe it?
The aim was to deepen the Swiss population's identification with Swiss. Because Swiss brings people together, we called on people to tell us who they miss the most and why. The stories were published on an online platform, and the public could vote to decide who Swiss would grant their wish to with a free ticket.

How was the response?
In a very short time, around 3,000 moving stories were received. And Swiss television made a program about it, which Swiss sponsored. In addition, a campaign followed last year with six selected authentic reunion stories: People who paid a surprise visit to a relative or friend far away. We had these reunions accompanied by budding film directors. The result were stories that got under the skin. We showed the short films on TV, in cinemas and on Seatsforswitzerland.com, which brought the campaign a lot of attention.

Publicis has received several awards for this...
Yes, at the Crossmedia Award 2014 we received silver, at ADC 2015 we won gold in film and the only medal in overall campaigns. And we hope to add more international awards to that.

Back to the Salt campaign, I assume you will enter it for the Effie.
That gives me an idea. If the values are still this good in six months, the campaign should actually win an Effie.

Markus Knöpfli / afh