OVO Telecom: An Analysis of an Integrated Marketing Communication Plan

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of OVO Telecom's integrated marketing communication (IMC) campaign. It begins with an introduction to marketing and the competitive landscape of the telecom industry, specifically focusing on OVO in Australia. The report examines OVO's campaign, launched in April 2019, which utilized radio and outdoor media to target dissatisfied customers and heavy data users. The analysis delves into the campaign's messaging, which emphasizes fairness, flexibility, and value, challenging traditional telecom practices. The report explores the integration of different IMC elements, including visuals and messaging. Supporting evidence includes OVO's positioning as a customer-centric provider, offering prepaid plans and mobile number portability. The report concludes by highlighting the campaign's innovative approach and its potential to establish OVO as a leader in the telecom market. The report also references the use of various sources like AdNews, MediaWeek and OVO mobile website.

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Integrated Marketing Communication
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Integrated Marketing Communication
A. Introduction
We see a myriad range of marketing messages that hit us from all dimensions, day in and
day out, and that is the very reason why no two messages even of the same products are
seemingly the same. Marketing is the science or as some call it the art of grabbing the consumer
mind share. When the mind share is bought, the consumer is convinced, and the product
becomes a hit in the market. Each advertising campaign has its specific set of target audience
upon which the campaign focuses, with the campaign eventually delivering pointed messages to
the target audience. OVO is a telecom company in Australia, and the telecom business as
everyone knows, is intensely competitive and it is dog-eat-dog kind of scenario (OVO Mobile,
2019).
B. Reflection on OVO’s Integrated Marketing Campaign
OVO, probably for the very first time, has had the courage to use the ‘F’ words in its
major campaign. In my opinion, the footnote, after the exasperation, explains that the ‘F’ words
are Flexible, Fast, Fun, Fans and First. Basically, the message that OVO is trying to
communicate is that ‘Fairness’ is not a dirty word for Australian telecoms.
How the campaign unfolded?
This campaign was launched on the 9th of April 2019 and uses radio and outdoor media.
The primary targets for this campaign are customers who are unhappy and dissatisfied with their
telco. This campaign is currently running on radio and outdoor media. The outdoor media
include pole ads, coding, leaflets, danglers at select 7/11stores, and so on and so forth. It looks
like this campaign is predominantly targeting those set of impulsive people who would want to

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jump across at the smallest hint. The second set of people that this campaign is targeting are
those telco users who use data extensively on their mobile phones (AdNews, 2019).
Fundamentally, this is selling a data plan at half the price. OVO communicates that it is
possibly the only alternative to other telecom service providers in Australia, who would not care
much about the experiences of their customers. Essentially, OVO is trying to position itself as
the only or even the best possible alternate for telecommunication service.
OVO essentially plays on the concept of fairness being a dirty word and the headline of
the campaign says, ‘a telco that gives a ‘F*?’ This is a period when people have really lost trust
with their telecom service providers. I feel that the underlying message for this campaign of
OVO is that binding customers in a contract is rather a bad idea and that is exactly what the
company is selling through this campaign. The purpose of this particular campaign is that OVO
is trying to position itself as a reliable and flexible alternate to the existing telecom service
providers and that OVO cares for its customers.
Integration of different elements of the IMC
There are two visuals of two models being used – one male and the other female in the
advertisements of this campaign. The lady looks scandalized whereas the male model is caught
totally by surprise (AdNews, 2019). There is a small blue patch with text in reverse, highlighting
the USP (unique selling preposition) of the advertisement, which is doubling the data for same
price. The bottom black band, as I understand, is conveying to customers where this can be
bought. The visual is generously splashed with expansive pink colour and various shades of
blue. While the shades of blue are the signature OVO colours, with the hue of pink offering an
excellent visual relief and contrast to the different shades of OVO blue.

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C. Supporting Evidence
OVO being one of the later entrants into Australia’s telco market segments, I feel, is
trying to thrive on people switching to it from other telecom service providers. Customers are
called fans and they say OVO believes in delivering great value to their plans. One of the most
important things which OVO does for attracting customers with, according to me, is that all the
plans offered by the company are prepaid, which essentially translates to there being no
expensive long-term contracts to which the customers should have to be bound for longer
periods, like most telecom service providers do. I personally would love to become a customer
of such a wonderful company which offering its clients with high-levels of flexibility and value
addition.
The Chief Marketing Officer of OVO Nicole McInnes wants to convey a message that an
alternate exists and that OVO cares (MediaWeek, 2018). The underlying message that this
campaign is trying to communicate to the intended audience is that a telco can be fair, flexible,
and even fun. He says that is exactly the way OVO is designed and the latest campaign adds a
set of positive ‘F’ words that OVO customers would get to experience every day and not just
one-time splash in the pan when they initially join the OVO family.
Moreover, OVO offers plan changes without any penalties, unlike any other player in the
industry. OVO, as I understand, is also allowing subscribers coming from other telecom service
providers to carry their old phone number with them, thereby allowing for mobile number
portability. This is another feature or value addition which I am in love with as far as this brand
is concerned. Personally, I am a person who uses data extensively on my smartphone and OVO

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has attractive offerings to people like me as mobile data is an attractive piece of cake for all
mobile users and that is exactly where OVO is gambling. As I understand from the campaign,
OVO is communicating that it offers enhanced value for its fans (customers) at incredibly low
prices and they seem to be keeping up the credo of fans first (customer first) (OVO Mobile,
2019) and I simply love it.
Conclusion
Though the above campaign of OVO, which is an integrated marketing campaign (IMC),
the company seems to have claimed the moral high ground and that it would constantly surprise
and overwhelm its fans positively. Along with several other features like bringing your own
number, fans automatically getting shifted to better plans as and when new plans are announced,
and customers not being locked-in to expensive contracts it adds, now a new feature called
double the amount of data on mobile at no additional cost.
The integrated marketing communications plan is basically an approach aimed at
achieving the objectives of a proposed marketing campaign, by using well-coordinated and
various tools and methods of product promotion, all of which are aimed at reinforcing each
other. With the help of an IMC plan, organizations carefully integrates and coordinates its many
communication channels to deliver clear and consistent messages about the organisation and
product or service (Cocoonfxmedia, 2019).” A fantastic move by OVO and a daringly different
ad that instantaneously captures the attention of customers. OVO, in this claiming of moral high
ground, needs to set pioneering paths for the future and it cannot backtrack on its commitments.

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References
AdNews. (2019, April 09). OVO claims the telco high ground in latest work. Retrieved April 13,
2019, from AdNews: http://www.adnews.com.au/campaigns/ovo-claims-the-telco-high-
ground-in-latest-work
Cocoonfxmedia. (2019). Within the IMC plan, the company carefully integrates and coordinates
its many communication channels to deliver clear and consistent messages about the
organisation and product or service. Retrieved from Cocconfxmedia:
https://www.cocoonfxmedia.co.uk/articles/the-intergrated-marketing-communications-
planning-process-imc/#.XLIBfugzbIU
MediaWeek. (2018, March 10). Nicole McInnes joins OVO as the media telco’s first chief
marketing officer. MediaWeek. Retrieved April 13, 2019, from
https://mediaweek.com.au/nicole-mcinnes-ovo-chief-marketing-officer/
OVO Mobile. (2019). The telco that puts the Fans First. Retrieved from OVO Mobile:
https://ovo.com.au/about