For years I had the honour of saying I was in the building when someone came up with category-redefining films full of floating babies and flying kites. Everyone seemed to be saying 'At Orange we believe ...' and as a consumer, I believed with them. The brand was a visionary beacon looking forward to a great future. Sadly, that future has arrived, and I do not think it is as bright as its past.
Today, Orange still produces some visually arresting films. This is one of them. But they seem to lack the vision that made Orange so attractive. I thought we were about to see a renewed perspective when we were treated to the recent fishy parable. But any call for us all to be more 'open' seems to have rapidly waned, and does not feature here at all.
Instead, we have Orange pushing its tariffs. The racoon and his friends are back, asking us to decide which one of them most represents our phone personality. Despite not seeing myself in any of these obscure little creatures, I applaud Orange's attempt to bring some creative differentiation to its product and pricing strategy. However, after its 'your plan' heralded the end of bundled offers, I am surprised to see them back - albeit in this Johnny Morris disguise.
The ad, however, leaves me cold. It feels like a lot of other ads - another group of smiley people getting together to the sounds of a folksy ballad. Is it Coke, or Sony, or worse still, T-Mobile? Clearly, however, I am wrong because it is in this survey, so the public must remember it as an Orange ad.
But do they know what makes these tariffs special? I reckon not. Orange used to have killer products that cut through the confusion marketing of other mobile brands. With this advertising I fear it is simply adding to it.
Gone are the days of communications with vision and products to back it up. Instead, we have a brand that is not sure what it stands for and products that no one really understands. In Orange parlance, I think that makes it bit of a camel.
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