A comparison of UAE telecom brands, from a brand intimacy perspective Testing the spectrum Goal When it comes to building and With the rise of social media creating brand intimacy, the and increasing demand for telecom industry is challenging. mobile data, this local duopoly Our research has shown telecom was challenged to create consumers are price- and offer- new offerings that are cheap, driven, meaning brands have convenient and attractive for few opportunities to cultivate the growing demographic of intimacy based on unique factors. the young and tech savvy. In In addition, every small detail 2017, Etisalat launched swyp, beyond basic functionality can and Virgin Mobile entered the dilute the customer experience, market building on du’s network. exponentially impacting the These newcomers claim to strength of a brand’s bond with offer a new way forward for the customers. mobile telecom industry in the As our annual study continues to UAE. But which brand, if any, reveal, the greater the intimacy has really captured the hearts between brand and consumer, of consumers and created an the less likely consumers are authentic emotional connection? to switch. In a price and feature dominant industry, we wanted to Challenge & methods examine the UAE telecom brands to see who performs best and MBLM is an agency comprised why. of many digital natives, and the nature of our work demands that Context we stay connected constantly. We examined each of the four The UAE has embraced the digital telecom brands’ prepaid services revolution, building connectivity to find out if there really is a and accessibility to international better mobile experience in digital networks and transitioning UAE—and whether, or not, any towards e-government services of the brands could forge a more to support the growth of its intimate relationship with us. economy. Known for its high To do this, we purchased per-capita GDP, and with an products and services at each abundance of youth and expat brand to experience first-hand consumers, the UAE’s telecom how well they delivered on their services have been at the promise and positioning. forefront of the latest and best. The industry has been dominated since the inception of mobile by Etisalat, with competitor du Did you know? acting as a foil since 2007. Globally, the UAE ranks: • First in the total population covered by at least a 3G mobile network (100% coverage)[1] • Second in the number of mobile broadband subscriptions (156 subscriptions per 100 people)[2] • Eleventh in the number of Internet users in the total population (90.6%)[2] UAE telecom brands field notes 2 The brands Established Established Established Established February 2007 September 2017 January 2017 October 1976 Tagline Tagline Tagline Tagline Add Life to Life The New Mobile Experience Mobile Made Simple Together Matters Brand promise/vision Brand promise/vision Brand promise/vision Brand promise/vision To Enhance Your Life Anytime, Your Lifestyle Companion The Future of Mobile Driving the Digital Future Anywhere The review criteria For our field notes review, we focused on how each brand delivered on its promise through its essence, story and experience. Specifically we reviewed: Registration Purchase and usage Mobile applications Customer service Sign-up requirements, ease of Sign-up costs, plan value and Complexity of sign-in, design, Ease of contact, clarity of registration, sign up costs, time flexibility, over use and add-on breadth of functionality communications, issue for SIM activation charges, network connectivity resolution Marketing campaigns Website content Social media In-store experience A selection of the brands’ latest Following the steps to get a Brand presence and Overall impressions and campaigns across different prepaid line via the website communications on Twitter, customer service at the store, channels Facebook and Instagram where available UAE telecom brands field notes 3 Ranked 10th overall in the telecom industry in our most recent Brand Intimacy Study, Etisalat is the UAE’s incumbent provider. Its promise of innovation is compelling, yet it may be too ambitious to implement across products and channels. Essence Experience Etisalat’s influence is visible Etisalat’s consumer-driven everywhere in the UAE, message is replicated in its from its infrastructure to its physical and digital channels Etisalat Etisalat sponsorships and consumer with consistent visual branding advertising. The brand’s promise and a uniform voice throughout invokes the power of digitizing materials. However, in a city Etisalat Etisalat communities and businesses. inundated with convenient online It is currently ranked as the 12th services, a key digital strategy most intimate brand across should be online registration, but all industries in the 35-64 age Etisalat has yet to implement Etisalat Etisalat category. With millennials, this for prepaid customers. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQSTUVWXYZ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQSTUVWXYZ however, Etisalat is ranked abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz !@#$%ˆ& 1234567890 !@#$%ˆ& 1234567890 in the 45th position. Within their brick and mortar stores, Etisalat representatives The Etisalat brand offers a helped address our needs, compelling promise, it has a asking about our usage patterns clear purpose and its identity is to provide tailored service distinctive. The brand is clearly and information. However, delineated and has an ownable this industry is very much force of attraction implemented offer-driven, and customer across its digital and physical representatives focused more environments. on upselling than on the services that would make life Etisalat Etisalat Story easier. The brand also has a dedicated street sales team Etisalat’s brand narrative across the city, but their leverages its legacy as a premier knowledge of Etisalat’s offerings national brand–one that has is restricted to the specific shaped the communications product they are promoting. landscape and is determined to helping consumers across The brand’s mobile application the UAE. Occasionally, this and website are designed message adopts a feature driven to cover its wide range of approach that covers every services and functions. While digital need, underlined with the comprehensive, site navigation brand’s vision of empowering and information hierarchy suffer, people. Etisalat delivers on its as a result, making it difficult promise through its breadth of to find information and offerings, but how its messaging challenging the brand’s promise of a digital future. differentiates between its Etisalat wide range of prepaid plans is The experience of using convoluted, and its distinction Etisalat’s network was seamless, between types of data (social with excellent connectivity and general-use) is confusing: + throughout Dubai. But when both are at odds with the it came to post-sale service • A wide range of home and • No online registration and message of empowerment. interactions, representatives mobile solutions SIM delivery for prepaid gave us different solutions mobile services • Strong nation-wide mobile or could offer no immediate resolution. The experience connectivity • Limited flexibility due to a clear distinction between was time-consuming and • Consistent store design and social media and general use frustrating, creating barriers to experience administered communication and indifference data by store customer towards the brand. representatives • Weak customer service communication and lack of issue resolution UAE telecom brands field notes 4 This new contender differentiates through a focus on a lifestyle proposition. Essence Experience Positioning itself as the swyp’s mobile application is “companion brand to your multi-functional and user- lifestyle”, swyp promises users friendly, save for some minor a rewarding experience and a bugs. The app experience sense of belonging; however, was worthy of the brand’s its product is only available to ‘companion’ identity. consumers ages 15 to 29. swyp entered the UAE market in 2017, swyp’s online registration and swyp so we don’t yet have data on its SIM delivery seemed convenient brand intimacy with consumers and helpful, but our SIM card in the target group. took two weeks to arrive, and customer care wasn’t helpful. Catering to the young modern And while swyp’s membership customer, the brand provides a plan offers value and provides an prepaid-only, social media- and enhanced social experience, lifestyle-focused product. As it comes at a cost: other services Etisalat’s youth-only brand, it is such as minutes, SMS and swyp swyp reliant on Etisalat’s product and general data are all treated service infrastructure. as add-ons. Story Our interactions with customer service started with a warm swyp adopts a youthful and greeting by name, but we faced quirky tone across its brand long call holds and follow-ups narrative. It also connects that never occurred. Speaking and creates dialog with its to swyp’s alternate Etisalat audience through social media helpline was even worse, as the engagement. Similar to other Etisalat team couldn’t find our brands, its overarching message registration details at all. We swyp hinges on the concept of expected superior service to empowering users and helping align to the promise of being them get what they need, but the a companion, and the brand underlying details of its various didn’t deliver. + offers sometimes become Overall, swyp offers some • The low-cost membership • Call minutes and general unclear and difficult to discern attractive features for users plan is accessible for its data offerings are treated through the tone of voice. in its target demographic, but target audience as add-ons swyp’s principal offering is its flaws like lost registration details • A wide range of customer • Lack of balance between monthly “membership plan” with and a two-week wait for a SIM experiences in the form of fun youthful language, and 5GB of social data and “perks” card drastically reduced the perks, reward system and clarity in describing the (discounts and buy-one-get- brand’s opportunities to build competitions that come brand’s offering one offers) at multiple retail intimacy with us.