O2 Brings Emotion to Data Roaming

Points of difference between the major mobile networks tend to boil down to functional benefits and deals, creating a situation where ads can feel transactional and brand goes missing. Data roaming is one area where there’s a real difference between networks – O2 offers free roaming across the EU, and its newest ad with VCCP puts that in the spotlight. But even this genuine difference can end up just feeling like another value proposition, so O2 and VCCP have landed on a different, more emotional approach for this ad.

The ad shows an older couple riding a Vespa scooter down a Mediterranean road. They have no baggage, just the scooter and a phone, whose roaming data gives them the security they need to feel truly free. A voiceover from Sean Bean talks about what freedom means – riding into the sun down “a road with no name” and a series of snapshots shows other holiday scenes while the voiceover explains the free roaming benefits of O2.

It’s a relaxing, evocative commercial which is doing two interesting things. The first is that it’s pivoting an ad all about roaming charges to focus on the emotional benefit, framing free roaming not just as a money-saving functional benefit but as a premium emotional reward for O2 users. We see the wisdom of that in the Test Your Ad results, with a 3.2-Star Rating predicting a good impact on share given appropriate investment in the ad. The average Star Rating for mobile plans is a disappointing 2.3-Stars, so it’s immediately apparent that O2’s shift in emphasis is helping it stand out from competitors.

The other interesting thing about this ad is its choice of stars. It’s unusual in ads to see older people represented in this way, as freedom loving individuals happy to pursue their interests. As detailed in our Wise Up! report, the standard ways ads treat older people are often somewhat stereotypical, or even patronising. We see them in ads as family members, grandparents or people in need of care, and far less as individuals with hobbies and interests of their own. It doesn’t make a difference to the metrics of the ad, but it’s a strong piece of representation from O2 and VCCP.

O2’s ad also features one of the smarter pieces of early branding we’ve seen in a recent ad. When we first see the scooter heading down the road, there’s an unobtrusive “2” next to the front wheel, forming the O2 logo. It’s a small touch, but as we can see on the Fluency Trace on Test Your Ad, it means there’s a strong early uptick in recognition even before Sean Bean starts actually talking about the brand. That leads to a strong Brand Fluency score, again well above the category form for mobile plans. It’s one more touch of quality in an ad which prioritises emotion over the hard sell, and succeeds on those terms.