Telecoms company Tele2 faced heavy competition in the low-price
telecoms segment and was beginning to lose its luster. Other
competitors were using aggressive, price-driven promotional tactics
to appeal to the Norwegian consumer, spending as much as four times
the amount on advertising as Tele2. Although Tele2 was the cheapest
telecoms provider, it needed a new strategy to achieve cut through
with weary and confused consumers.
Tele2's target audience loves a good bargain, so the brand
wanted to connect itself with the Feeling of a Great Bargain (FGB).
This required a communication plan that would show people how the
brand was the king of bargains. The strategy was to give as many
Norwegians as possible the FGB on one day, powered by Tele2.
In order to do this, Tele2 teamed up with Dagbladet, Norway's
second largest newspaper. Then it offered everyone a free ad
space on the paper's website, using a "free ad generator". This was
a tool that allowed you to design an ad of your choice. The ads
were then integrated into Tele2's banner campaigns on dagbladet.no.
Then Tele2 bought all of the ad space in the printed newspaper and
offered to other advertisers for free. The ads were all co-branded
with Tele2 and featured a number of great bargains for goods and
services like hotel rooms, micro-helicopters, mobile phones and
telecom subscriptions. Another FGB was generated through the
special price of Dagbladet on the FGB day: 66% cheaper than usual.
The initiative created a huge debate in Norwegian media about the
commercialization of press.
The campaign reached more than one million readers through
Dagbladet - a quarter of all Norwegian adults. This was amplified
by the ensuing media debate. Tele2's "price leadership" and
"consumer friendly" brand values increased dramatically and
Dagbladet experienced a 30% increase in circulation.