End of a tangle of cables

McCann-Erickson rewires relationships with consumers for Cablecom

McCann-Erickson rewires relationships with consumers for CablecomBy Ernst Weber Cablecom is moving closer to its customers and saying goodbye to its image as a cable operator. This is the aim of an umbrella brand identity designed by McCann-Erickson for the highly indebted cable network operator. The profit from the almost double-digit million budget should put the Zurich agency back on the road to success after heavy budget losses (Diax, Suva).
When Cablecom began reorganizing the company a year ago, it quickly became clear that a new start with a new image was inevitable, says Theresia Büsser, Head of Corporate Communications. At that time, the many local network companies merged to form Cablecom.
The image correction runs parallel to the optimization of the offer. According to its own statements, Cablecom wants to create the conditions for a true broadband experience for digital TV, digital telephony and high-speed Internet services with a digitally supported network. And this is just the beginning of a wide range of services that will be launched in the coming years.
Unless a premature grounding thwarts these plans. Since the British-American owner NTL went into debt restructuring moratorium in the spring, Cablecom has had a debt burden of 3.7 billion Swiss francs to pay off. NTL bought the Swiss cable network operator in March 2000 for CHF 5.8 billion.
The new Cablecom brand image was designed by McCann-Erickson. It won the mandate at the beginning of this year in a pitch against three agencies. The decisive factor for the award was the telecoms experience gained with Diax. The agency was also helped by the fact that the interdisciplinary cooperation in dialog marketing is covered by the MRM Target Group, which belongs to McCann.
New logo expresses movement and softness at the same time
No stone of the old brand image was left unturned. The logo, the printed matter, the CD, the naming of the individual offers and the communication presence consisting of product and image advertising were completely rethought.
The pivotal point of the entire communication is the promise that Cablecom fulfills the consumer's entertainment, information and communication needs. The positioning idea gained relevance through the implementation, which showed the consumer connected to all worlds.
The claim "Touch your worlds", which emerged from the range, led to the product-oriented, homogeneous umbrella brand identity, which will be launched on October 20. At the same time, it formed the new signet. It depicts two worlds connected by a bridge and two Cs standing with their backs to each other. "The shape of the logo has something organic about it and expresses movement and softness," says Marion Marxer, Group Account Director at McCann, describing the new logo.
The umbrella campaign covers the areas of digital TV, high-speed Internet and, from next year, digital telephony, which is to be introduced at that time. The divisions are advertised with two ads each, a 30-second cinema/TV spot and a reminder of 5 and 7 seconds respectively. At no point does the presentation give the impression that the divisions are sub-brands, as the brand-forming features are given priority throughout.
The brand promise is anchored by starting the ad headlines and spot texts with the phrase "My world:". This is followed by a statement such as "The weekly video conference with my niece" and "Spontaneously invite me to a nocturne". Statements that belong to the respective product worlds.
In order to convey the greatest possible individuality, the headlines, set off in the red of the logo, bear the handwriting of one of the people depicted, while in the commercials the protagonists indicate their individuality with their choice of language.
In the advertisements, the brand atmosphere is characterized by strong, mostly dark colors. Pastel shades were avoided primarily in order to differentiate from the Bluewin advertising, where pale and cool colors tend to predominate.
To ensure that the viewer's first glance is drawn to the brand and not the product range, the company name and logo have been placed at the top right. The product categories are only marginally mentioned in a bar placed at the foot.
"I don't know of any other brand that has been rebuilt in such an integrated way recently," says McCann CD Dominik Imseng, who pays tribute to his predecessor Daniel Comte. He had conceived the presentation, but no longer completed it as he has since moved to Advico Young&Rubicam as CD.
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