Vodafone has announced a new, global, brand strategy that puts optimism at centre stage. The new strapline will be: “The future is exciting. Ready?”. The first part will be translated into local languages with the second part in English. For example: "il futuro è straordinario. Ready?" in Italian; and "El futuro es apasionante. Ready?" in Spanish. The new strategy will be applied in the 36 countries where Vodafone is present and is the first change to the brand since the introduction of the “Power to you” strapline in 2009.
The introduction will be accompanied by largest advertising campaign in Vodafone’s 33-year history, set to start on 6 October. The lead TV commercial -a 60-second film focused on how human interaction remains constant while technologies evolve over time- was produced by Ridley Scott Associates.
Vodafone said the new strategy underlines its belief that new technologies and digital services will play a positive role in transforming society and enhancing individual quality of life over the years ahead. The new visual identity will place much greater emphasis on Vodafone's iconic 'speech mark,' in the biggest change to the mark since it was created in 1998. The 'speech mark' will now appear as the central graphical focus overlaid on all marketing and marketing communications activity. The logo will also appear in a new 2D design in place of a skeuomorphic 3D approach.
Vodafone also commissioned opinion research among almost 13,000 people in 14 countries to assess the optimism –or pessimism- felt by people about their future prospects. The research, conducted by YouGov, found that people of all ages believe that technology innovation will have the most positive influence on the future over the next 20 years. Young people (18-24) are the most optimistic about the future, with 62 percent believing living standards will be better in 20 years time.
Vodafone also commissioned the Futerra consultancy to identify 10 of the top emerging trends that could transform home and working life. Technological developments identified by leading futurologists from five countries included:
- 3D printed components for housing construction, with 4D printed components that evolve over time as family accommodation requirements change;
- a five-fold increase in global power generation capacity as clean energy such as solar panels are extended from rooftops to windows, walls and even some highways;
- personalised medical interventions such as 3D bio-printing of organs and limbs;
- new public transportation systems connecting cities with trains running at up to 600mph (966kph);
- large-scale water capture projects, including precipitation harvesting, groundwater replenishment and improved desalination, transforming the lives of 1.2 billion people in water-constrained areas;
- and a tripling of connected sensor usage in farming leading to increased food yields coupled with the development of new protein sources that increasingly displace meat.
The brand positioning strategy and related advertising campaigns were developed after a period of extensive research and concept testing, including quantitative and qualitative inputs from nearly 30,000 people in 17 countries.
