BT Broadband
September 19, 2002
UK'S MOST INTENSIVE TV CAMPAIGN TO HELP DOUBLE BROADBAND CONNECTIONS
* £10m to be spent on UK's most intensive TV advertising campaign
* Aim to double weekly broadband connections
* BT Broadband set for early October take-off with £23 million campaign
* Average of 90 per cent of BT Broadband's first customers satisfied with
product
* Carphone Warehouse becomes first High Street partner to sell BT Broadband
BT will spend £1 million a day on the most intensive TV advertising campaign
ever seen in the UK as part of its drive to double the weekly take-up of
broadband.
A total of £10 million will be spent in 10 days between September 22 and
October 2 to advertise the potential of broadband. The campaign, called
possibilities, will also include a specially created on-line game, using
characters from the advertising, which is expected to involve a record six
million people over a three-day period.
The 10 days of blanket TV advertising is a key part of BT's drive to get one
million ADSL broadband connections by summer 2003 and increase the weekly
average from 12,000 to 24,000. It immediately precedes a separate £23m push to
sell BT Broadband, BT Retail's new high-speed, direct-access internet product,
which has recorded satisfaction levels of around 90 per cent since it was made
available in early June. BT Retail aims to have 500,000 customers for the new
service by summer 2003.
Pierre Danon, chief executive officer of BT Retail, said: "BT's intensive TV
campaign is further evidence that broadband is clearly at the top of our
agenda.
"The sheer scale of what we are doing should leave no one in any doubt of the
seriousness of our intent to put broadband at the heart of BT and be the
flag-bearer for the industry in the government's drive to make Broadband
Britain a reality. Developing awareness through marketing is a very important
component of BT Group's broadband strategy and, such will be the intensity of
this campaign, that it will be virtually impossible to miss the messages it
gives about the potential of this exciting technology and the benefits it
brings.
"This campaign, on top of the other initiatives BT Group has introduced in
recent months to kick-start the market, should help provide all operators
supplying broadband in the UK with the launch pad they need to sell their
products and services in unprecedented numbers," added Danon.
Following on from the 10-day campaign, which seeks to generate awareness of the
general benefits of broadband, BT Retail will formally launch BT Broadband, its
new high-speed, access-only product.
Although available since early June, BT Broadband will be launched with full
fanfare at the beginning of October with a £23m marketing campaign.
Angus Porter, managing director of BT Retail's Consumer Division, said: "When
you consider we have not yet done a scrap of advertising for BT Broadband, the
number of customers already signing-up is excellent, giving us solid confidence
that we will reach the target we have set for next year. Last week alone, we
took 1,700 orders. Previous experience tells us that when the marketing
campaign kicks in, the number of connections will increase significantly.
"Feedback from early customers has also helped us refine BT Broadband, in our
bid to provide customers with exceptional service.
"Satisfaction with various aspects of BT Broadband has been running at an
average of 90 per cent, with customers being particularly happy about the speed
of the product (98 per cent satisfied), as well as the one-stop service in the
form of our dedicated contact centre in Newcastle and the consolidated bill. We
are now working to ensure that we improve the service even further."
Partners will play a key role in helping BT Retail reach its milestone of half
a million BT Broadband connections by next summer. Today, Carphone Warehouse
became BT Retail's first high-street partner in selling BT Broadband.
Angus Porter said: "Partnerships are crucial. We are delighted to have Carphone
Warehouse on board. The more solid partnerships we have with leading companies,
the easier will be the task to hit our own target for BT Broadband and
contribute to the Group target of the million broadband connections by next
summer. Carphone Warehouse now joins Sky Digital, which BT Retail will also be
working with to sell BT Broadband.
"In all elements of our broadband strategy, which aims to raise new revenue of
£681 million a year by 2004/05, partnerships play a prominent role. We now have
70 content partners for BT Broadband, 40 signed-up for BT clickandbuy and
leading companies like HP and Toshiba for our BT Home Computing offering, which
will be launched formally later this year," added Porter.
Inquiries about this news release should be made to the BT Group Newsroom on
its 24-hour number: 020 7356 5369. From outside the UK dial +44 20 7356 5369.
All news releases can be accessed at our website: http://www.btplc.com/
mediacentre
Inquiries may also be made to Mike Jarvis and Jon Carter at the BT Retail Press
Office on 020 7356 6045 and 020 7356 4523.