EE: Kevin Bacon fails to champion EE and 4G

By Tom Roberts, Managing director, Tribal DDB London, marketingmagazine.co.uk, Wednesday, 09 January 2013 12:00AM

Marketing's unique weekly analysis of advertisement recall in association with TNS.

There's a lot to like here. 'Hollywood A-lister' Kevin Bacon is placed at the centre of EE's connected 'universe', talking to us about the benefits of a 4G network, as he walks through a friendly little town in Britain.

The star has been perfectly cast. His knowing performance, disarming and entertaining in equal measure, is the highlight. The obvious play on 'six degrees of Kevin Bacon' is funny if you know the game, and even if you don't, you warm to him immediately for not taking himself too seriously.

The nerdy/mainstream pop-cultural mash-up of references also works well, especially delivered in an American accent. 'EE is for you, whatever you're into'. It's very difficult to say that without appearing generic, but this ad just about pulls it off, and again, it's Bacon's performance that gets it over that hurdle.

The treatment nicely combines a cinematic feel with the accessible 'localness' of the setting, and the fast-paced script draws you in to the subject. It is suitable for repeat viewing, and this is useful in terms of regularly reminding the audience about the brand's offering, without annoying them.

The structure - star talking about the product to camera - is perhaps a little familiar. It's not too far away from competitor Virgin Media's ads featuring Marc Warren and David Tennant (by DDB and BBH, respectively). The similarity isn't that problematic, however, as this isn't just another network. This is 4G, the future, with lightning-fast speeds and a world of possibility.

For me, that's where the problems begin. I'm in that pocket of people you'd call early adopters. I'm excited about the potential of 4G, so why is it that I feel less excited about 4G after I've watched the EE ad?

Watching movies on my mobile. Online gaming. The prospect of NFC payments. All of these are good, but nothing new, and not dependent on this superfast network. Sure, it'll be much better on 4G, but the ad seems to be telling me that it'll be only slightly better. Changing network is a big leap for most consumers, and seems an awful lot of effort for 'slightly better'.

It might be that EE has played it somewhat safe because it's a TV ad, and the brand's first one, intended to appeal to a mass market. I don't want to nitpick, but I'm a little disappointed it didn't speak more overtly to those who want the best technology available as quickly as possible.

EE has made a good ad in terms of announcing the brand (friendly, approachable, sharp but not techy), but the benefits of its class-leading product don't come across that well. Kevin is telling me only how great the connected, online world is - not why EE's offer is the one I should desire.

Brand strategy verdict

A solid, memorable launch film that's probably a better ad for the internet in general than it is for the EE brand.

6 out of 10

Adwatch (Jan 9) Total Recall: EE
Latest rank	Jan-09	Brand	Agency/TV buyer	Recall
1	-2	EE	Saatchi & Saatchi/MEC	58
2	-1	Argos	CHI&Partners/Mindshare	56
3	-3	Littlewoods	St Luke's/Carat	54
4	(–)	Marks & Spencer	RKCR Y&R/Walker Media	50
5=	(–)	Isme	Contagious Content/Carat	48
5=	(–)	John Lewis	Adam & Eve DDB/Manning Gottlieb OMD	48
7	(5=)	Very.co.uk	St Luke's/Carat	46
8	(–)	Benylin	JWT London/Carat	43
9=	(–)	Aldi	McCann Manchester/UM Manchester	42
9=	(10=)	McDonald's	Leo Burnett/OMD UK	42
11	(–)	Nature Valley	The Independence Orchestra/UM London	35
12	(–)	Gocompare .com	Dare/Carat	33
13	(–)	Carphone Warehouse	CHI&Partners/mSix	32
14=	(–)	CB12 mouthwash	Palladium Films/UM London	31
14=	(–)	Microsoft	Crispin Porter & Bogusky/ UM London	31
16=	(–)	WH Smith	DLKW Lowe/Carat	30
16=	(18=)	Currys/PC World	M&C Saatchi/Walker Media	30
18=	(–)	Boots	Mother/OMD UK	29
18=	(–)	Sky	WCRS/MediaCom	29
20	(5=)	Tesco	Wieden & Kennedy/ Initiative	28

Adwatch research was conducted from 29 November-3 December 2012 by TNS
as part of its twice-weekly OnLineBus omnibus among 1000 adults aged
16-64. For details of the survey, contact Bob.Salmons@tnsglobal.com (020
7160 5550). Advertisements were compiled by Ebiquity (020 7650 9700) and
Mediaedge:cia UK (020 7803 2000).

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk