Innovation, optimism, future. These are the keywords on which Vodafone is betting, as it announced today its new brand positioning strategy. The look is new, the brand (the “quotation mark”) is central, the slogan is new: “The future is extraordinary. Ready?”, declined in all the languages of the countries where the group is present (from the English “The future is exciting. Ready?”).
In short, a change of pace that comes out of ordinary administration. It is in fact the largest advertising campaign launched by the multinational telephone giant, globally, in its 33-year history. The TV spot – a 60-second film that tells how human interaction remains a constant while technologies evolve over time – was produced by the agency “Ridley Scott Associates”. This is the first renewal since the slogan "Power to you" was launched in 2009. To get an idea of what is at stake, it is worth remembering that the Vodafone brand, one of the best known in the world, was valued at $22 billion by Brand Finance 2017.
The departure is set for tomorrow, 6 October, but the take-off of the new communication strategy was the result of long preparation and in-depth analyses. In particular, Vodafone commissioned a YouGov survey of around 13 people in 14 countries, including Italy, to assess how people perceive the future. Among the main results:
– Regardless of age, respondents believe that technological innovation will have a very positive impact on the future in the next 20 years;
– young people aged between 18 and 24 are the most optimistic about the future, with 62% convinced that living standards in 20 years will be better than today;
– overall, respondents of all age groups believe that in 20 years' time their own living standards, and those of their children, will be better than today.
Vodafone also turned to the Futerra agency to identify 10 of the main emerging trends – from the cities of the future to major water projects to artificial intelligence in the world at 100 Terawtt – that could transform homes and lives over the next 20 years work of people. To do this, it involved five well-known "futurologists", one for each continent, who identified among the main technological innovations:
– 3D printed components for housing construction, with 4D printed components able to evolve over time with the housing needs of families;
– a five-fold increase in the global clean energy production capacity (from 17,5 to 100 Terawatt, to be precise) thanks to the installation of solar panels no longer only on the roofs of buildings, but also with "solar glass" in windows, on walls and even highways;
– personalized medical operations thanks to 3D bio-printing of organs and limbs;
– new public transport systems, with ultra-fast trains that will connect the cities at nearly a thousand kilometers per hour;
– large-scale water-harvesting projects, such as rainwater harvesting, groundwater replenishment and desalination, that can transform the lives of 1,2 billion people living in water-scarce areas; And
– growth in the use of connected sensors in agriculture, with a consequent increase in food production, and the development of new protein sources that will increasingly replace meat.
Is this really the future that awaits us? In any case, Vodafone seems to have made its choice: it wants to associate its brand with innovation and the idea of a future marked by optimism.
