Israeli mobile operator Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) will launch its new brand next week with an unconventional ad campaign, sources inform "Globes." Instead of the more routine TV ads, Partner will launch the new brand with 3,000 billboards around the country. Only subsequently will a more traditional campaign be waged on TV, radio and other media.
Partner remains tight lipped about the details of the campaign and orders for medium ads have been placed through a Georgian company to throw people off the scent regarding the real identity of the company carrying out the advertising.
To some extent Partner is copying the campaign it conducted in 1999 when it launched its Orange brand. Back then, Partner put up huge billboards saying Hello before a massive media launch of the brand.
Partner is also being unconventional in terms of the content of its billboards, openly saying farewell to Orange and then saying hello to the new Partner brand - all on the same billboard. As previously reported by "Globes," the Orange of the old brand will be superseded by a green-blue color.
Parttner's new campaign strategy was formed abroad by Publicis, which operates in Israel through ad agency Bauman-Bar-Rivnai and creative agency Glickman Shamir Samsonov, who are putting together the campaign in Israel.
The divorce between Partner and Orange was set in motion last summer when France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard said in Cairo that he was eager to leave Israel as soon as possible as part of the company's new branding policy. His words were interpreted as supporting BDS although he subsequently insisted that this was not the aim. Nevertheless, the two sides decided to go separate ways with Orange paying partner €90 million compensation.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 11, 2016
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