What are the most significant trends you’re seeing in the mobile telecommunications industry right now?
Firstly, and a rather obvious one considering the sector I work in, is the ever-growing and developing MVNO space. There’s no denying that there’s been a bit of a plateau in new device adoption over the last 5-10 years or so, versus the height and excitement of the late noughties and twenty-tens where consumers were changing their devices with each yearly iteration.
Some may see this as a negative, but I think it’s a testament to the higher-quality devices manufacturers are producing, which seem to last a little longer than they used to. The cost-of-living crisis is playing its part here too, but all the data suggests that people are holding on to their devices longer than ever before, which has driven the rise of SIM only as a category.
More now than ever, consumers view their mobile device and plan as a utility that serves a necessity, rather than luxury. This ultimately leads them towards finding the best airtime and data deal based on price, where the MVNOs continue to excel and gain share from the MNOs. Consumers are also far more clued up on the relationships between the MVNOs and MNOs as their carriers, so there are far fewer barriers to switching to an MVNO, with businesses like iD Mobile flourishing in turn. Nearly 3/4 of our new customers are coming from MNOs and we expect this to rise year-on-year.
The deployment of 5G also continues to remain a focus for us all, with more consumers and businesses using mobile solutions than ever before due to ever-improving speeds, latency, and greater capacity to meet modern demands.
There are more 5G devices than ever, more people streaming via mobile data than ever, and 5G is now becoming far more suitable for things such as gaming and cloud-based services for features like remote play. As 5G expands, there’s a real possibility that it will become the first option for those in remote locations who struggle with fixed line connectivity, offering broader access to high-end usage and experiences as the technology matures.
Operating on Three, which offers the UK’s fastest 5G connectivity, we’re noticing more customers ask about and respond to comms that focus on it. With the MNOs agreeing to sharing arrangements to accelerate 5G deployment, we anticipate 5G will begin to become even more important to consumers in the years ahead.
Then of course there’s AI and automation, which I firmly believe will be the most important driver of innovation, both at a device and network level. As a network, we’ve placed a strong emphasis on our digital-first service strategy and improving how we operate and better serve our customers, whilst driving the efficiencies that can go right back into our pricing.
Exploring and utilising AI in the right way is the next logical step for us and no doubt for our competitors in the space, whether it be better customer support, enhanced services, or simply improving and reducing operating cost. AI will provide the single biggest revolutionary change to our industry, just how it does so remains to be seen.
How have you seen consumer behaviour change in the mobile market over the past few years, especially post-pandemic?
The pandemic had us all thinking about our finances and consumers’ mobiles plans were no different. Over the early stages of the pandemic, we saw customers who joined largely opting for SIM only, with some existing customers looking for a way to move towards SIM only.
However, as things developed, we did then notice people investing more into their mobile tech and tech in general. Oddly, considering people were at home, we saw data usage increase, which led to us offering compelling higher data and unlimited data plans.
This led to good subscriber gains at a time we expected things to slow down. With people being cooped up over the various lockdowns, consumers were seeking ways to stay entertained and people began investing more into their home-set ups.
The wider Currys group, who we’re a key part of, saw great success over the period – despite the obvious challenges for a “bricks and mortar” retailer. SIM only continues to be on the rise but we’re still seeing a large share of people who are looking to take out new contracts on the latest devices.
After a relatively ‘quiet’ period, in which consumer upgrade cycles slowed in line with longer-lasting devices and wallet-tightening throughout the cost-of-living crisis, the arrival of AI and foldable devices is beginning to accelerate consumer purchasing decisions. The challenge here, however, will be how long these people decide to keep hold of their device beyond the contract period, and how hardware and software innovations could encourage them to upgrade to future devices.
Can you describe your overall marketing strategy for iD Mobile? How do you differentiate iD Mobile in a competitive market?
In a nutshell, we simply want iD Mobile to become a household name. The value focused proposition we’ve delivered for years now is clearly resonating with consumers, demonstrated in our growing subscriber numbers and our wider ROIs. In fact, we have just reached a significant milestone of 2 million subscribers– adding a further 488,000 users year-on-year.
This achievement not only reflects our strong customer-focused approach but also highlights how by living our ‘Mobile done right’ strategy, we are making an impact in a competitive market. Whether it be price and value-based comms, often being the lowest price in market. Or via marketing leading benefits, like inclusive Roaming in more destinations than any other network and with the biggest data allowance (30GB vs. O2’s 25GB).
We’ve also made a clear decision on where we play and how much we invest to maximise our ad spend, as we know that spend alone in this highly saturated space can quickly lead to costly and far less profitable acquisition.
A lot of work goes into strategically planning our marketing investment, and whilst we may pack a smaller punch in terms of our spend – pound-for-pound we’re confident we’re landing better blows. We’ve clearly defined our audience and over the years have developed a full-funnel approach to meet them, where we can hold their hand through the journey of becoming aware of the brand, to consideration and purchase.
At the very top of this sits our sponsorship of ‘Bright Entertainment’ on E4, and through a digital-first approach we are connecting the dots between our 1st and 3rd party targeting – ensuring each strand of activity is working hard and complementing one another.
How important is digital marketing in your strategy, and what platforms or tools do you find most effective?
Digital plays a pivotal role when it comes to our marketing approach as it gives us in-depth results via both on-channel KPIs and our other measures of success – like econometrics/MMM and attribution models.
We’ve been building our data and insight through digital marketing activity over several years now, so we’re driving some best-in-class performance and ROI efficiency throughout key strands that rely heavily on a video-led strategy, which includes the likes of YouTube and Meta, as well as programmatic buys. We are very sales ROI driven but that is offset with clear brand objectives and goals.
Striking the right balance remains the biggest challenge for us and we want to be able to show true value to the Currys business over the short-term by contributing to sales, as well as long-term – with our brand awareness up 12% year-on-year.
How does iD Mobile stay ahead in terms of innovation, and are there any upcoming projects or technologies you can share with us?
We’re always looking at ways we can improve our offer and services and investing in them remains a priority for us.
Over the last 18-months or so we’ve signed off and set in motion a multi-million pound investment dedicated to enhancing our customer service and “self-serve” infrastructure. This is a substantial investment and comes at a time where those in our space are looking to cut back.
The investment so far has supported a new, state-of-the-art app – developed with our partners at Apadmi – offering customers greater control of their account, plans, payments and add-ons. From setting bill caps to updating payment details, managing multiple plans to exploring upgrade options – the app is designed to allow users to do more with their accounts in one convenient hub.
Alongside the app, a significant investment has been made in our CRM Platform, known as CMP, which serves as a significant element of the customer service infrastructure and is the backbone to the billing and customer relationship management operations. It houses all of iD’s customer details, managing the bill processing and payments, and oversees service provisioning to ensure seamless customer experiences.
We see these investments in new and existing tech as a real marker of our commitment to delivering exceptional customer service and ensuring customer satisfaction remains at the forefront of our operations.
What is your long-term vision for iD Mobile, and how do you plan to achieve it?
We believe that if we stick to our strategy, we’ll continue this trajectory of success. We’ll carry on gaining market-share, especially attracting customers from the MNOs, and we’re confident that we’ll be able to retain them too. Even though we’ve only just hit the 2-million subscriber mark, we’ve already got our eyes set on reaching 3-million.
We’re clear on what people are coming to iD for and we’re not losing sight of what that is – and ‘value’ will remain the cornerstone of our proposition. Importantly, we’re happy playing the long game. We’ve been on the journey most of the new players in the market are currently on, and it’s easy to focus on the metrics that have a degree of vanity attached to them. Some of these numbers remain important to us, but we’re more interested in remaining a highly profitable business that can still offer new and existing customers the very best value – and one that offers great value to the wider Currys business and our investors.
As a brand, we really are looking to expand our efforts in spaces that traditionally haven’t proved to support our short term-sales efforts. Building the brand remains a priority but it’s the success at a sales level that will allow us to do more brand building activity, thereby benefitting us in the longer term. We’ve worked hard to build a profitable and sustainable business and we’re now looking to elevate and push the brand forward in line. We see our new ‘See the Light’ campaign and new Channel 4 sponsorship of ‘Bright Entertainment’ on E4 as the stepping stones for this and we’re excited by what’s in the pipeline, so watch this space.
Recently the company announced the launch of its ‘See the Light’ Campaign, could you tell me more about this?
Our new ‘See the Light’ campaign tackles the issue of people unwittingly overpaying for their mobile phone plan. In particular, those are who currently on one of the four “major networks”, who often remain with their existing provider for years and pay a premium without exploring better options. Our own research had been the driver behind this campaign, which told us that despite 90% of the UK population concerned with the on-going ‘cost-of-living’ crisis, over half of UK consumers (52%) felt they were overpaying for their mobile package. Yet nearly a third (30%) of Brits remain loyal to their current provider and plan without considering alternatives. Shockingly, one in five (18%) are unaware of when their contracts even ends.
Our creative brief to the team at ‘Trouble Maker’ was simple: help the nation to realise that they could save money by switching to iD Mobile. ‘See the Light’ aims to encourage those on a “major network” (the MNOs) who are blindly paying more than they need to that they could save an average of £240 a year on their phone plan. The four MNOs still represent c. 70% of the UK market, so the opportunity for iD to attract new customers from this segment is sizeable.
The campaign stories revolve around three ordinary protagonists going about their daily routines. Out of nowhere, each of them experiences an epiphany moment, or a moment of “mobile enlightenment” as we at iD like to call them. These three characters, who represent those most in need of saving, are then struck by a heavenly green light with an angelic choir in tow, awakening and showing them that there is a better way with iD Mobile. Beloved UK personality Matt Berry lends his distinctive narration to the campaign as the voice of the brand, which instantly brings this bold creative direction into the comedic sphere, as he muses on how the protagonists have discovered the way to “save themselves” £240 a year.
Although the campaign largely lives online, we have had bursts of OOH in key strategic regions in the UK and have used the same creative vehicle in our sponsorship of ‘Bright Entertainment’ on E4, tying together what consumers see from us cross-channel. We’re hoping the campaign provides Brits with the inspiration they need to make smarter, more economical choices for their mobile plans and I’m confident that this campaign will encourage people to open their eyes to the benefits of switching to iD.
What has the reaction been for the new campaign from consumers?
To date reaction to the campaign has been overwhelmingly positive and I think it’s due to the concept being straightforward, familiar, and to the point.
There are lots of great reasons to join iD, like free Data Rollover, Inclusive Roaming to 50 destinations and the UK’s fastest 5G. But, when it comes down to it, making a huge saving on an essential utility is always going to land with consumers. We all have those epiphany moments of realisation in our lives and the creative provides an instant trigger for people to open their eyes.
The simple ideas are often the most effective and this a creative concept that’s routed in our culture and has been bought to life in TV and films for decades. There’s a level of familiarity that people like seem to like about them, especially in a world where ads can be quite tenuous with the links to the services and products they’re trying to promote. We see the ‘See the Light’ platform having longevity and there’s a lot of creative room to us to explore it further. It is performing well for us and reaching 2 million subscribers is testament to that.
