John Linton .....and why would it possibly matter?
Not having been involved with advertising agencies for so long I have completely forgotten anything I may have ever known about the processes and the just, to me, plain 'weirdness' of how, apparently, the creative mind works, it has been a bit traumatic for me over the past few days to talk to various people about how Exetel might be able to accelerate the provision of wireless data services in rural and regional Australia.
Having had to tell someone whose knowledge of Exetel is zero about what we are trying to accomplish goes sort of OK in all but one case but the situation/conversation goes rapidly downhill from there. It starts getting difficult from the time the same question is asked which is basically "What is Exetel"? or words to that effect but grinds to a complete halt when the follow up question of "what is the profile of the person you are aiming the product at" elicits an inability to answer by me - even when I've made several attempts at defining both the service and the sort of people I would think would be interested in acquiring it by citing the most generic examples that have actually happend.
It's clearly yet another indication of my inability of expressing even simple thoughts in ways that are comprehensible to other human beings.
So after the first two failures and before the third failure I collected 11 wireless data advertisements from seven different suppliers/carriers and tried to look at them in the context of the questions I was being asked and sent them to the third recommended agency as examples of what the carriers and some of the carrier's resellers thought was appropriate for their aimed at potential buyers. I could discern no answers to the two questions that defied my ability to answer as all I could see were pricing options of a crudely defined service that seemed to me to require a person to know what it was and to be making a decision based on a price comparison with, in the case of Telstra, accepting the unsupported, and almost certainly untrue claim in anything but a general sense, that it was "the fastest".
However it apparently made it crystal clear to the third agency exactly what each of the seven companies "were" and exactly "what person they were aiming the product at" - though when I asked what that might be they seemed as inept as I had been in spelling that out to me - a 'non-advertising' person obviously is unable to see the nuances in the ads that conveys that information.
So, before I give up and rely on my own lack of knowledge I am trying one last time to see if I can provide enough information to allow a 'creative' and perhaps even a 'knowledgeable' person/group of people to design a promotion program for us that will meet our objectives of selling 100,000 wireless data services in a realistic time frame.
These are the answers to the questions asked by the fourth advertising agency. Any ideas you may have that would better define/add to the clarity/completely change to make it better would be welcome
client: Exetel Pty Ltd
project: Selling 100,000 Wireless Data Services In Regional/Rural Australia
date of brief: 5/5/09
job number: specific job number
What exactly is the issue that the communication has to address?
Exetel want to sell 100,000 wireless data services in rural and regional Australia. Exetel buys the base service from Optus and then adds various ‘values’ to it to attempt to differentiate it from the same service sold directly by Optus Retail, Optus/Virgin and a number of other wholesale customers including Dodo, Internode and Westnet.
Similar wireless services (of a perceived superior quality) are widely offered by Telstra BigPond. Vodafone and ‘3’ also offer a perceived inferior service in many locations.
Exetel’s preference is to use country agents as the point of contact for the ‘selling’ and delivery of the service and a range of agent supplied additional services that will enhance the market for, and value of, these services.
This may be an issue facing a brand or an opportunity to take advantage of. Can this be re-framed in an inspiring way?
A combination of a local agent, a low cost Yagi antenna and Exetel’s added values will allow people who live on the perimeters of country towns and within 30 kms of major highways across Australia to get access to this technology that would not be available any other way and, almost certainly, at lower prices by far than are available from other parties.
Over time we would be able to improve this initial offer further by adding much lower cost modems and much lower cost routers.
What are the gaps in the marketplace that the competition has left?
The ‘competition’ relies on saturation/generic marketing and give aways to drive their volume take up. The wireless data product doesn’t fit comfortably within this demographic as it is subject to a range of set up and optimisation issues that, in most cases, can only be provided by a technically competent ‘advisor’ (such as a local agent).
Think about the assumptions and conventions that the brands in this category adhere to (eg. Personality, adds, media, target, behaviour). How can we break them? Are there any unmet needs we should be attempting to fulfil?
Speed, reliability and price are the driving factors in the purchase of wireless data services and are dominant in the carrier's advertising.
Telstra has the reputation for the fastest and the most reliable signal strengths in this marketplace but its prices, as with all of its services, are far too high to meet the needs of the less affluent requirers of this service.
Optus has a poor (but we believe improving) reputation for both reliability signal ‘constancy’ and speed.
We believe the agents can, via demonstration, overcome the speed/signal reliability perception and we win hands down on price. By using the Yagi antennae we quadruple the target marketplace in any agent’s district and also gain further on price and massively on local support.
How are we hoping to exploit this?
By convincing an initial 50 agents to participate in this program and, by the success of the program, convince a further 650 agents (whom we have not yet talked to) to join the program.
What are we going to do with our brand to ensure the competition lose sleep and will also motivate the target? How can we do this in a surprising and unexpected way?
I don’t know
What is the single-minded thought from which the communication will leap?
Broad band speeds at dial up prices ‘almost anywhere’.
This does not have to sound like an endline. It should always be a clear summation of what you want the creative team to write the ads about.
I just did
How can we describe the target audience so that we like and respect them?
The back bone of Australia (they produce the food we in the cities eat and they provide the services that the food producers need to make that possible)
Think of them as people and not consumers. Be sure you are describing there people at the time in their lives that is the most appropriate for the brand – are we appealing to their maternal side, the career person, rebellious etc.
Oh dear – I’m the wrong person to be writing these replies. I guess we are appealing to two major aspects of their lives:
1) Their children will get the same educational internet access as city children
2) They will be able to run their businesses as efficiently as anyone else in Australia
Why should these people believe what we are going to say?
Because we won’t be saying anything that cannot be proven by either information on our web site or by an agent demonstration.
Only include things which directly support the single minded thought. Make these brief. Don’t rabbit on about the features of the product. In the briefing you should make clear which are to be used in the ad.
If I could write the ad I wouldn’t be looking for expert help.
What tone of voice will be unique for the people we are talking to?
Common sense and caring about Australia and its inhabitants.
Be precise and exclusive with the words you choose rather than vague and inclusive. Think about a tone of voice that could only describe our brand. Ensure that the words really do describe a personality or tone. Don’t use the words fun, approachable, positive or sociable. These are the tools of a tired brief writer!
Funnily enough I didn’t use those words before I read this section – they would have induced nausea.
Exetel is this sort of company:
We believe that the pricing set out below is the best available from any provider of these services in Australia. Additionally the 'standard inclusions' and user benefits together with the high levels of service reliability make a compelling case for any customer to select Exetel as its ADSL service provider. Should you still be considering another provider perhaps you might like to consider that as well as saving yourself money by choosing Exetel you will also help save Australia's most endangered flora and fauna, make a contribution to green house gas reduction and provide more opportunities for people in the third world. If you have time, click on the icons below to see how you can also help make the world a better place while saving yourself some of your hard to come by dollars.
http://www.exetel.com.au/fauna_feat/
http://www.exetel.com.au/enviro_feat.php
What external ideas can help bring the brief to life?
I don’t understand the question.
We thought that some case studies of current users on the web site might be useful.
e.g. TV, film, design, books, etc. This can be an actual demonstration of the product, a feeling or mood. Metaphors and/or personalities always help.
Some aerial images of where some users are located showing a 30 km stretch of open farmland with an isolated farm house with an Exetel aerial.
Practical considerations (what things must we avoid or include in the creative development)
Designing any material that looks like any other ISPs advertising.
Don’t be shy of putting things in this box. It is better to air your concerns and any mandates from the client rather than waiting until we are in creative development.
I have nothing to add at this stage.