Now, more than ever consumers are tired of brands embracing only the language of empathy to show they understand the challenges and sharp edges of consumers' lives.

With people facing up to the cold realities of a cost of living crisis simply telling consumers you care, without the compassion to create products, services or cost-savings that could actually benefit their lives, is tantamount to marketing as gaslighting. A ‘say do’ gap that is increasingly difficult to ignore

In this environment, EE’s latest campaign from Saatchi & Saatchi provides a genuine moment of cut through that sparks pause and reflection. For while brands have long lent on the marketing jargon of ‘customer-centricity’ how many brands and agencies truly understand their role in people’s lives?

It’s these customer needs which sit at the heart of EE’s biggest brand campaign since the business launched in 2012 and the brand has refocused on its role in customers' lives. Following extensive customer research, the four focus areas for EE are game, home, learn and work.

Christian Thrane, MD of Marketing at EE, explained: “We will be putting our customers at the heart of our brand campaigns; featuring real UK families from all walks of life; our new TV adverts will bring to life the new roles EE will play in our customers' lives. The brand has come a long way since the iconic 2012 launch campaign ‘six degrees of Kevin Bacon’; although his familiar face won’t feature in the TV campaigns, his instantly recognisable voice will still help us to tell these stories.”

These focus areas are brought to life with the pulsating energy of real people in energetic spots. Parents will feel seen in the ‘Switch off. Drift off’ execution where EE’s Wi-Fi controls enable parents to press pause on their always-connected kid's Wi-Fi devices. A product designed to help navigate the ‘universal saga of bedtime’. While the ‘Game Mode’ spot highlights an enhanced broadband mode for gamers. ‘Learn’ meanwhile shines a light on the unrelenting and harsh challenges of simply existing as a young person in a digitally driven world.

Alongside the film, new EE features a learning tool partnership with Calm that brings authenticity to the lens.

The three spots are elevated by flawless casting and energetic soundtracks: Insomnia by Faithless, It’s Not Over Yet by The Klaxons and So We Are Here by Bloc Party.

But this campaign has another, arguably more important drumbeat worth celebrating; that of the ordinary, honest lived experiences of consumers. Campaigns which see and reflect the reality of their lives to promote products that help navigate them. That such an approach is revelatory is evidenced by a competitor interrupting their pitching process to ask agencies to reflect on this work the day it hit the market. It’s 2023, yet real people remain a revelation. 

The campaign will also include a nationwide advertising and experiential campaign will roll out, alongside a redesigned retail experience, customer communications, social media and editorial content with a completely new look and feel, leaving the UK with no doubt that ‘new EE is here’ and ‘new EE does more’.

EE worked with a number of agencies including its long term creative partner, Publicis Groupe UK, engaging a tailored cross-agency team to support EE in its development of the new positioning. These include Saatchi & Saatchi, Digitas, Boomerang, Publicis•Poke, Zag and Prodigious. Media and audience planning was led by EssenceMediacom, sponsorship and activation by Havas Play and PR by M&C Saatchi Talk and The Academy.

EE’s Thrane explained: “Building on our foundation in delivering best in class connectivity, we want to redefine the way our customers interact with us for all their connectivity needs, in and out of the home. To do this, we have built a new brand that plays a bigger, more relevant and more personal role in our customers lives; a brand that, despite using the same colours and logo, will show up very differently, doing far more than simply the mobile and broadband we’re currently known for.

Richard Huntingdon, CSO of Saatchi & Saatchi, added: “We are beyond excited about the launch of new EE. It genuinely shows what we mean by marketing led business transformation at Publicis Groupe UK. A complete reinvention of the entire customer experience built from the brand out and designed to serve more of our customers’ lives with new products, services and experiences.”

Communication through demonstration at its best.