EE 4G launch praised despite 'confusion' over brand

By Hannah Crown, prweek.com, Friday, 02 November 2012 12:36PM

Newly revamped mobile operator EE launched its 4G network last night with a party at Battersea Power Station, hosted by X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger.

EE: launched 4G at Battersea Power Station

The launch saw Scherzinger wearing a ‘Twitter dress’ consisting of 2,000 LED lights, which turned the singer into a real-life message board for incoming tweets. A four-minute laser show using '4D technology' depicted the superfast network exploding outwards from inside Battersea Power Station.

The show was accompanied by a specially devised score by DJ Yoda, while EE reps were on hand to give demonstrations on the new line-up of 4G handsets.

James Day, Metro’s technology editor, praised the launch, adding that it was 'as ice cool as the breeze coming off the Thames', and the message was 'loud and clear – 4G is finally here and EE is the only place in the UK to get it'.  

Day added the guest list was ‘restricted to people important to EE and the industry rather than a bunch of hangers on’.

However, he added that there was still 'confusion' over the EE brand. 'Whether consumers get EE is another matter, as despite their best efforts it’s still incredibly confusing as to why Orange and T-Mobile still exist and what the difference is between them and EE,' said Day.

EE’s rebrand from Everything Everywhere has been seen by the media as an attempt to draw a line under an identity clash between its Orange and T-Mobile brands, which were merged in 2010.

The event was handled by M&C Saatchi. Chris HIdes, M&C Saatchi MD, said: 'You don’t get a second chance to launch a new brand so we felt it was important that we created an event that had scale and set out the ambition of EE.

'The 4D projection brought scale, the Twitter dress worn by Nicole Scherzinger allowed us to tell a story about the technology and the demonstration zone inside the event allowed us to showcase the handsets and the speed of 4G.'

Bruce McLachlan, deputy MD of Fever, which also handles consumer work for EE, said: ‘The thinking was this is a big step for technology for the UK, and to use the occasion to reflect the innovation and the sense of excitement. It engaged people who sent tweets in and the discussion was going on about the event among the community on Twitter.’

Steven Day, chief of brands and comms at EE, said: ‘We wanted to mark the arrival of EE, Britain’s new superfast 4G and fibre broadband network, with something spectacular and powerful.’

The 4G network was launched under the EE name in ten cities on 30 October and is expected to cover 16 cities by the end of the year.

This article was first published on prweek.com