France Telecom rebrands TV services as ‘Orange’; outlines marketing strategies for quad-play

June 2006 - France Telecom's MaLigne TV IPTV service is being re-branded under the Orange brand as part of a group-wide marketing exercise that covers Internet, TV and mobile offerings from June 1. The company's planned IPTV deployment in the UK will also be branded as Orange.

France Telecom has also been outlining how it intends to market its quad-play. For example, in the UK, new Orange mobile pay monthly customers (with a talk plan over £30) will be offered free broadband. The company says there is no connection fee for the broadband package, which offers up to 8Mbps line speeds and is worth £17.99 a month. These pay monthly mobile customers also receive the Orange Livebox (wireless modem) and Orange Wireless & Talk, which is the company's Internet phone service offering free evening and weekend calls to UK landlines.

There is also a promise of "one email, one address book, one portal for mobile, fixed-line and broadband", and cheaper calls to Orange mobiles through new "Anytime" broadband talk service. Customers are going to be offered cheaper calls to Orange mobiles through the new 'Anytime' broadband talk service. There will also be a shared customer loyalty programme beginning this autumn to reward the loyalty of all fixed-line, mobile and Internet customers.

In France the company intends to tempt consumers with Orange Optimales, the "all included" packages with a switched line, (up to) 8Mb broadband Internet, digital TV (including the introduction of HDTV) and 24-by-7 call plans. Here, mobile TV (video delivered to mobile handsets) is also added to the convergent communications and media offering.

French customers can also try Unik, the company's brand for fixed-mobile telephony. Handsets operate like normal mobile phones outside the home but connect into the landline when within range of the Livebox wireless modem, using WiFi. Unik, which will be available from September, requires an Orange Broadband subscription plus a special terminal (starting at 99 euros).

The decision to invest the group's convergence strategy in the Orange brand was based on its  potential for growth in markets outside France and the UK. It is one of the world's best known brands, considered visible with easy-to-remember communication ‘codes‘. France Telecom believes the brand is also associated with the  idea of content (movies, music, games, etc.). "This is an important asset for the France Telecom Group's convergence strategy," says the telecoms giant. France Telecom also believes this is a brand "that can stimulate desire", while France Telecom customers and employees preferred the Orange brand when asked.

As a result of this marketing consolidation, the Orange brand will now include all the France Telecom group's activities worldwide except for traditional telephony offers, which will retain the France Telecom brand in France and the incumbent operator's where relevant.
 
Meanwhile, Orange Business Services becomes the Group's business brand name in 220 countries and territories.

The company says  the consolidation around the Orange brand is part of the NExT Plan initiated in 2005 and reflects the transformation of the France Telecom Group to offer its customers simple and convergent services.

"This is a great day for France Telecom, but particularly for our customers, who will begin to discover a new digital world driven by openness and simplicity," announced Didier Lombard, chairman and CEO of France Telecom. "The new Orange, brought by a new France Telecom, embodies the efforts we have made over the last year to move toward greater convergence and give our customers the opportunity to enhance and simplify their daily lives, both at home and at work."