How we made all of Estonia talk about the price of internet

CHALLENGE

According to the statistics of the European Commission, the retail prices of fast and ultra-fast fixed broadband in Estonia are among the highest in Europe, often being several times higher than our close neighbors. We put the customers of telecommunications companies and the costs of their packages at the center of our strategy. We asked the independent consulting company Civitta to examine why the introduction of high-speed broadband in Estonia is several times lower than expected. We used the results of the analysis to raise the issue in the media. Extremely high fees for higher speeds are the main reason as to why the usage of ultra-fast internet in Estonia is among the lowest in Europe (11%).

According to measurement results by the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA) the quality of service is the same across all operators, but Tele2 offers internet service at the best price.

Tele2’s challenge was to raise consumer awareness about several operators charging unreasonable fees for internet packages: according to TTJA’s measurement results the quality of service is the same across all operators, but Tele2 offers the most affordable internet. We wanted to make people think about their expenses and raise a broader discussion about how much is reasonable to pay for internet service.

GOALS

The campaign had three main objectives:

• To strengthen Tele2’s reputation as a price leader
• To show that Tele2 is a leaner, more transparent organization than the others, which helps to lower the costs for service fees To show that the basis of internet service pricing is historical, but can be changed
• To raise awareness of the considerably differing fees of several operators, while the quality is the same based on TTJA’s measurement results

STRATEGY

We created a broader context by raising wide-reaching discussions in the media about the root causes of higher fees. For effectiveness we focused our communication on people’s direct pain points: daily expenses.

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How much more are you paying for your internet service than you should be?

We raised the issue of the root cause of the wholesale pricing of cable infrastructure widely in the media, sharing the results of the analysis with journalists, who helped us to reach a large audience. We wrote articles about people’s experiences with suggestions on how to reduce your costs – one of which was to choose a more reasonably priced operator.

In the tailwind of the published articles, we raised the same issue in various forums and saving groups on social media with more than 30,000 members, asking users’ opinions on how much would be reasonable to pay for the internet, and examining how much others pay for the same speeds.

In cooperation with a design agency, we created an advertising campaign with a focus on a landing page that included a price comparison of various service providers, showing that Tele2 offers internet services at the best price. We created captivating content in our own channels on topics like “How much is reasonable to pay?“ and “What do you pay for?” with the aim to make consumers think about whether it is worth paying extra for the same quality. 

RESULTS

We succeeded in increasing the sales of Tele2 service packages by 20% and showing Tele2 as a price leader, offering industry standard speeds at a significantly cheaper price. The follow-up survey revealed that 81% of Tele2 customers consider their operator’s prices to be reasonable and the price-quality ratio to be good.

The campaign lasted from May 25, 2020, to June 30, 2020, and the PR budget was  1,500 euros.

Meta team

Ann Hiiemaa Partner and team lead