EE ventures into ecommerce with new brand launch

EE has announced that it is broadening its horizons from traditional telecommunications services to venture into the ecommerce market. 

In this landmark shift for the brand, EE has rebuilt its business from inside out based on the current and future needs of its customers. Following extensive customer research, the four focus areas for new EE will be game, home, learn and work; a suite of products and services open to all UK consumers have been developed to improve customers everyday lives in these areas, all underpinned by UK market leading products EE 5G and EE Full Fibre. This shift is the next step on EE’s journey to becoming the lead consumer brand for BT Group.

All of these new products and services will be available on a new EE ID digital platform. Set up through the EE App, EE ID offers a gateway for customers into EE’s portfolio of products and services including consumer electronics and insurance, regardless of which mobile or home broadband network they’re on. Instead of being identified by a mobile or landline number, consumers can now set up a Verified Digital ID in the EE app that will allow them to easily manage their EE services, all in one place. 

New EE will be revealed 20 October in a pivotal multi-channel campaign showcasing how EE will help to elevate the everyday in Home, Learn, Work and Game. A nationwide advertising and experiential campaign will roll out, alongside redesigned retail experience, customer communications, social media and editorial content with a completely new look and feel. 

To develop, communicate and launch the reimagined brand, EE worked with a number of agencies including its long term creative partner, Publicis Groupe UK, engaging a tailored cross-agency team to support EE in its development of the new positioning. 

The overall brand vision and architecture of the new need states, and the multi-media and integrated launch campaign employed expertise from Saatchi & Saatchi, Digitas, Boomerang, Publicis•Poke, Zag and Prodigious to successfully pull together multi-channel customer communications, search, innovative digital tools, brand identity, social, retail stores, product & services positioning, purpose and production into this campaign. 

Christian Thrane, MD of marketing at EE, said: “Building on our foundation in delivering best in class connectivity, we want to redefine the way our customers interact with us for all their connectivity needs, in and out of the home. To do this, we have built a new brand that plays a bigger, more relevant and more personal role in our customers lives; a brand that, despite using the same colours and logo, will show up very differently, doing far more than simply the mobile and broadband we’re currently known for.

“We will be putting our customers at the heart of our brand campaigns; featuring real UK families from all walks of life; our new TV adverts will bring to life the new roles EE will play in our customers’ lives. The brand has come a long way since the iconic 2012 launch campaign ‘six degrees of Kevin Bacon’; although his familiar face won’t feature in the TV campaigns, his instantly recognisable voice will still help us to tell these stories.”

This weekend, the integrated campaign will also see an experiential roadshow roll out in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Manchester and Newcastle. 

Richard Huntingdon, CSO of Saatchi and Saatchi, added: “We are beyond excited about the launch of the new EE. It genuinely shows what we mean by marketing led business transformation at Publicis Groupe UK. A complete reinvention of the entire customer experience built from the brand out and designed to serve more of our customers’ lives with new products, services and experiences.”