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.