The Biggest Rebranding In Romania, TELEKOM
Challenge
On September 13, 2015, Romtelecom (no. 1 in fixed voice and no 2 in broadband Internet and TV with a legacy of over 80 years) and COSMOTE Romania (no. 3 mobile operator) were rebranded and became Telekom, a Deutsche Telekom brand.
Communication and business wise, the context was extremely challenging for multiple reasons:
- The rebranding generated massive public interest (especially media)
- It was the biggest rebranding in Romania and in Deutsche Telekom SE Europe, with media calling it “the business event of the decade”
- It had an extremely tight deadline and was implemented in only 5 months
- It was complex, mainly due to shareholder structure and internal environment reasons
Project Scope
The communication goals were the following:
- Ensure effective and correct communication towards media
- Tell the story of the rebranding covering all its stages in a transparent and proactive way, over the cause of 5 months, in order to generate good will for the new brand
- Anticipate and effectively cope with any possible crises that might occur during the process of the rebranding
- Build strategic positioning for Telekom as an innovative and value focused integrated leader
The corporate communication strategy was the result of thorough examination of the Romanian telecom market, case studies from successful rebrandings abroad and similar undertakings within the DT group.
It was developed around three axes:
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Building momentum up to T-Day through constant, consistent and clear external communication, exploiting all publicity and communication opportunities in order to build the story of the rebranding and raise awareness and favourability for the new brand.
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Keeping the momentum during Q4, by sharing T-day experiences and follow-up on all rebranding initiatives.
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Synchronizing with all ATL communication during teasing, revelation and products campaign periods
Result
- A total of 500 clippings (TV, print, online and radio) in less than two months: almost 100 clippings prior of the rebranding and over 400 clippings after the press conference
- International media reported the event, including Euronews
- 3 TV stations offered live coverage of the event (Antena 3, B1, Romania TV)
- Over 100 press inquiries were documented and answered in 2 months
- Almost 10 million people reached by the news
- Media called the rebranding “the Romanian business event of the decade”
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