Vodafone: If you don’t get the call it’s probably not our fault this time
Embattled telco Vodafone is launching a new series of television commercials which the company says is the start of “new Vodafone” aimed at showing the brand as more confident and highlighting the company’s recent expansion of its mobile coverage network.
The Vodafone “network confidence campaign”, which was created by Ogilvy, shows a teenage girl waiting for a call from a boy – however, instead of him ringing a text comes in from the girl’s mother. The scene then moves to the boy who screws up a piece of paper with her number and throws it in a bin. The ad finishes with a voice over saying “If you don’t get that call, it’s probably not our network”.
“This campaign signals the start of a new Vodafone,” said a Vodafone spokeswoman. “We have rebuilt our 3G network from the ground up; added a 3G+ network and last week launched our superfast 4G network providing some of the best speeds in the country.”
Vodafone chief marketing officer Kim Clarke also told The Australian that the brand was in a “significantly different place” and that the campaign would signal “a much more confident Vodafone.”
The new campaign follows a series of “self-deprecating” television ads which acknowledged the mobile network’s persistent problems with mobile coverage and sought to reassure customers that they could opt out of their contract within 30 days if they find the service poor.
Creative Agency: Ogilvy Sydney
Executive Creative Director: Russell Smyth
Account Team: Nathan Quailey, Rachael Allan
Media Agency: Ikon
Client: Vodafone Australia
Head of Media & Campaigns: Shawn Marsh
Senior Campaign Manager: Kim Petinsky
Digital Campaign Manager: Karina Brown
Note. Grey London did the original
Nic Christensen
“If you don’t get get my business back – it’s all your fault.”
But to be honest, is any telco worth using? I cringe when having to call any of them. Would easily be the worst industry for customer service in the country. (If any actually have a physical presence here beyond the shopfront.)
Still won’t risk Vodafone again.
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“probably”.
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What happened to Vodafone’s recent one of Jenson Button in the Datsun? I never saw it once (apart from on this site.) It was clever…
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I’d hope part of their redemption has customer service being Australian-based, or highly HIGHLY revamped to be effective. Customer service use to be about solutions, now it’s a measure of perservance.
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Vodafone chief marketing officer Kim Clarke says the brand was in a”significantly different place”.
Pity their phone towers weren’t in the right place. Vodafone couldn’t cover my suburb. Could I get coverage in other suburbs? Probably in some but not all.
Ads can’t erase poor service.
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I wonder why Vodafone can’t just fix their network and then let the people who are left tell everyone when its better that it is…. better.
Based on some reviews of their 4G rollout I don’t think they’ve quite nailed the network side yet but still seem desperate to tell everyone it’s all OK now.
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“It’s probably not our fault… Like, sure, it could be. But probs not…”
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The reason I did not get calls in country towns Victoria and NSW was because there was no Vodafone network, not because people were not calling.
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Dear Ex Customer, as an ex Aussie Cust.Suppt. dude, please be aware that TeleTech and their rebranded Manilla Call Centres are where you are spoken to like an imbecicle & read to from condecending scripts to distract your real issue! Sadly 90% plus, from what i gather, use this mob now= grrr Virgin Optus Telstra. iiNet is local tech support by the way ( i actually use virgin)
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A lot of people playing the man and not the ball here. I’d say bravo to the client for making a ballsy ad.
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Cheers to a courageous client realising that you won’t get cut through without acknowledging current marketplace perceptions.
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“… it’s probably not our network…”
WOAH! Easy on the brazen confidence in your flash new network, Vodafone! It’s almost as if you’re kind of nearly sort of sure it’s going to work.
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Funny then that today in South East Queensland all we could get for 4 hours was 2G service.
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Well the ad is actually one made in the UK for the Irish market (which Dr Mumbo has left out) and only the final 5 seconds of the young guy was re-filmed here in Australia to give it a beachy feel rather than showing a canal and barges like the original https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-R_Yx9hyl4 . So its an international marketing campaign that Vodafone are cleverly using here. Good on them I say.
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Best of luck overcoming “Vodafail” the name I hear regularly when people refer to Vodafone.
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Given the challenges we as customers still have using Vodafone I’d say this type of campaign is a year early at least and is probably more aimed at unsuspecting non customers than anyone else. Still have a lack of coverage in many buildings here in Sydney, we still get delayed messages (some delayed for hours), still have very patchy coverage on the city outskirts. I guess when all else fails you try the marketing angle to overcome it!
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So instead of apologising publicly and trying to win customers back by explaining “We stuffed up, it wasn’t good enough and now we have fixed it [trying]” – they are taking the high ground and blaming customers for not getting calls?? I know this is tongue in cheek but still it stinks, are customers laughing at having poor service through Vodafone before? Was losing calls funny? Err no, just no.
Also love the “probably” bit, it’s just more Vodafail imo.
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Their 30 day opt-out is not worth a pincha. I had their wireless broadband for about 7 weeks and all was roses. Then it went to shit. At least 10 dropouts every night.
“we’re very sorry blah blah blah” – I told them to shove their condescending scripts and get someone on the case who could do something rather than apologise. In the end had to get the TIO to order them to break my contract. And I can actually see the closest Vodafail tower about 500m away. I’m one customer they lost for all time. I’d rather try two tin cans with string between them before going back to this lot.
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Sure. Just keep reminding people of your failures.
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Some 9 months after taking advantage of Vodaphone’s’ 30 day guarantee’ I continue to receive legal threats; 4 different firms now and countless letters. I reply to them advising the paperwork I have, so they stop and sell the ‘debt’ to another sucker. Vodaphone’s guarantee is clearly a con and they cannot be trusted.
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I like it.
However, I’ve been with Vodafone for so long now I think I’ve developed Stockholm Syndrome.
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Looking at all the comments on this page I think this will have be a LONG campaign if they want it to work….
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If their network fails this time they’re finished
Telstra have smashed them
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On the upside, I now have coverage in the building at work, and I don’t need to sit near a window.. So, it has improved.
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I’m on Vodafone and don’t get any reception in my house… not long now until I can get out of my contract without having to pay. All the clever advertising in the world wont change the fact that their service falls short… Never again.
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“We’re probably not confident in our own product”
“We’re probably still shit”
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I can’t believe the Vodafail rep talks as if the campaign relates specifically to Australia, rather than the generic Irish ad that it is. What chutzpah!
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With them moving their call centre back to Oz
Their fast 4G (faster than telstra) and their strong signal pretty much everywhere i think its safe to say Vodafone is truly coming back!
Good on them
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you mean “Copied from Ogilvy”… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-R_Yx9hyl4
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Vodafone is a “once was” a decent network and decent customer service. Will need to fix both before I even consider going back.
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Vodafone is the crappiest mobile network I have seen. Even the network in my third world home country is better than vodafone. what a joke “If you don’t get that call, it’s probably not our network”.
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