TV junkies can watch whatever they feel like, whenever they feel like it. After conducting extensive research this summer, Montreal-based Cogeco Cable has decided to go to market with this message via a new ad campaign that breaks Aug. 19.
The company, which provides cable services in specific regions of Ontario and Quebec, found that consumers ‘have largely been conditioned by the Internet,’ says VP marketing and sales Ron Perrotta. ‘Everything is available 24/7, whenever they want it. That’s what the consumer is looking for [in a TV experience].’
With the goal of increasing its subscriber base as well as its revenue from existing customers, the ‘I Feel’ ad campaign, created by Toronto-based ad agency Ogilvy & Mather in collaboration with its direct shop OgilvyOne, is built on the insight that video-on-demand and high-speed Internet puts ‘the power in the consumer’s hand.’ The effort includes TV, radio, newspaper inserts and direct mail.
The first spot in the campaign depicts a young boy who is watching cartoons when his older sibling walks in. She ‘feels’ like watching videos and changes the channel. He then goes to the computer, finds a music site that would interest his big sis, and turns the speakers way up, drawing her away from the tube. He thinks to himself ‘I feel that went well.’ Then the voiceover pipes up: ‘Cogeco. Life’s just better with cable.’
Three or four TV commercials will be introduced over the next year, and Perrotta believes that the strategy has lasting power beyond that. ‘Fundamentally, the campaign puts the consumer at the heart of it, and high-speed Internet or digital cable can deliver on thousands of ‘I feels.”
While in the past, cable was ‘the whipping boy, because satellite was sexy,’ Perrotta says consumers are now recognizing its advantages, such as its ability to offer on-demand programming, not to mention the fact that you don’t need to install a dish on your roof. ‘We’ve hemorrhaged customers to satellite, but people are coming back to cable. Twelve months from now and going forward, consumers will get hooked on high-demand, erosion will cease and there will be significant swings back into the cable platform.’
According to its 2001/02 fiscal report, Cogeco lost 6.2% of its basic service customers in Quebec and 4.2% in Ontario. At the end of last year, its customer base totaled approximately 158,000 high-speed Internet, 145,000 digital and 836,000 basic service customers.
But, the cable industry is expected to regain its footing, particularly in the digital environment, suggests Ottawa-based Decima Publishing. Earlier this year, the research firm reported that satellite providers Bell ExpressVu and Star Choice had 61% market share of the digital industry between May/June and August/September 2002, but it also predicted that number would drop to 58% while digital cable’s market share would climb to 40% by the end of 2003, and then again by another percentage point in 2004.
Another aspect of the strategy is direct mail; Cogeco is sending out DM pieces targeted at six consumer segments. For competitive reasons, Perrotta won’t describe them specifically, but says this change will enable the cable firm to focus on precise offerings.
‘Before we’d mail all our analogue subscribers to get them on digital,’ he explains. ‘Going forward, we’ll identify customers in each segment and vary offers and messages by target group. We can be much more sophisticated than we have in the past.’ Because Internet and TV consumers have ‘varying degrees of technological understanding,’ they are looking for ‘turn-key solutions and real value,’ he adds.
The cable firm has also made an effort to improve its service, in order to strengthen existing relationships with customers. Cogeco recently hired Marc Deschatelets, who has 18 years experience in sales and marketing for companies such as Bell Canada, Microcell Solutions (Fido), and most recently video transmission firm Invidex, as ‘director of customer experience’ to ensure that internal communications are consistent with the brand. ‘The reality is we will never outspend Bell,’ explains Perrotta. ‘The thing we can work on is to try to be more effective and improve our customer service internally. The brand experience is most impacted by how the customer is treated at the call centre.’
