Quebec telco Fizz is placing the emphasis on how it’s “different” from the other major providers in the industry in its new campaign.

“Different is in” is the digital-only mobile and internet brand’s newest platform, developed by creative agency Ogilvy, to enforce its approach to telecom. This campaign uses rich colours, humorous illustrations and off-beat photography showing occasionally weird vignettes to highlight how Fizz is “different.”

“We tried to come up with a very catchy sentence that would encapsulate our philosophy of trying to do things differently for customers and surprise them,” says Martin Gendron, senior director of marketing, communications and partnerships at Fizz. “We’re trying to come up with different ways for the customer to control their bill, to be able to personalize it, to benefit from benefits such as the rollover [data].”

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Gendron adds that the fully online brand wanted consumers to understand that “it’s not just another telco provider,” but that it stands apart from its competitors. Fizz allows customers to personalize their monthly mobile plans, such as by setting the amount of data they want, rolling that data over and with additional service like voicemail.

“Other carriers have made it like a big bundle, which is very expensive, and consumers are sometimes paying for stuff that they don’t necessarily need,” Gendron says. The different approach to its services also allows Fizz to address another consumer pain point by taking a less promotional approach to its marketing.

“We like to see ourselves as a fair alternative [and] non-promotional, in an industry where providers are trying to capture consumers and have them move from one provider to another with very aggressive promotions,” Gendron says. “That leads to new customers benefiting from advantages that loyal customers don’t even have, and that they have to fight for. That is a major frustration.”

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The message of fairness and transparency has been part of Fizz’s brand positioning since it launched over a year ago.

“The early stage of the brand positioning was, ‘when it’s fun, it’s Fizz.’ We always had this ‘fun’ factor in a very commoditized industry,” he says. “‘Different Is In’ is just an extension of the general positioning. It works so well, and it was so well-received in terms of consumers understanding and remembering that phrase.”

Last year was a significant one for the Fizz brand, as not only did it launch its home internet service, but Sylvie Charette was also named VP of marketing and customer experience for the brand.

The campaign also comes as the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) began nine days of hearings on Tuesday, which will primarily focus on whether the nation’s mobile wireless market sufficiently serves Canadians, as well its preparedness for developments such as 5G. A significant discussion point during these hearings is expected to be around issues of affordability and whether or not the CRTC could mandate the three major Canadian telcos – Rogers, Bell and Telus – to open up access to their network to small carriers. For their part, the major telcos prepared for the hearings by launching websites, newspaper ads and pushes on social and email touting things like the amount it is investing into future innovations.