Today's General Meeting of the shareholders of Vodafone Omnitel has approved Vodafone Omnitel's rebranding as Vodafone.
Omnitel, established in 1995 as Italy's first private mobile telephony operator, joined the Vodafone Group, the world leader in the mobile telecommunications sector, in 2000. The first rebranding operation took place in January 2001 when the Company took on the Omnitel Vodafone name. This was followed in June 2002 with the changeover to Vodafone Omnitel. The migration process is now about to be completed with adoption of the single Vodafone brand.
The operation will involve the entire distribution chain, which is to be called Vodafone One, whilst the Omnitel logo will continue to be used in its current form, alongside the Vodafone logo, only in certain customer communications.
From May 13 a thriller-type film advertising the new Vodafone Live! services will mark the switch to the new brand. The advert signals a return to the great story-telling tradition of Omnitel's earlier advertising campaigns.
The camera pans across the streets of a modern Mediterranean city: in the foreground a mature, stern-looking man takes elegant strides down the steps of an imposing building, whilst, in the background, a youth snaps a photo of him and sends it to someone via his cell phone. Another young man, the star of the advert, receives the MMS and quickly goes out into the street holding a rigid, dark-coloured case.
In the following scene, a man is sitting on the back seat of a car, whilst the young star walks. The car stops in front of an old barber's shop and the man enters, whilst a young woman sends an MMS to confirm the man's position. The star receives the multimedia message and, having looked at a map via Vodafone live!, steps confidently out in the direction indicated.
The young man bursts into the barber's shop carrying the case. We hear the metallic noise of the locks as they are unfastened, and he opens the case and takes out an object. The barber and the older man look petrified. But the young man takes out a violin and masterfully plays a piece of classical music.
The closing scene sees the young man playing in a large orchestra. The conductor is the mature man, who congratulates the lead violin, who is the young man. He is applauded by all his friends in the front row.
The advert, the first to be created for Vodafone Italia by J. Walter Thompson, follows the classic structure of a thriller. The film creates tension and suspense, getting the viewer more and more involved until the final turn of events.
Sun Rise by Simply Red provides the musical backing for the first part of the advert, whilst the violin that cuts into the notes of the song breaks into full flow during the concert hall scene. The advert, the first to be created for Vodafone Italia by J. Walter Thompson, will be aired on Rai, Mediaset, LA7, Stream, Tele+, All music and MTV between May 13 and June 5. The advert was produced by Film Master, and directed by David Denneen.
