Canada’s newest player in the cellphone game, Globalive, has hired Chris Robbins and Will Novosedlik to develop its nascent wireless brand, along with a soon-to-be-named creative agency.
Robbins will oversee Globalive’s sales, marketing and communications, while Novosedlik will look after branding and communications strategy. Toronto-based Globalive Wireless intends to launch its new service later this year.
“We plan on delivering a new kind of wireless brand experience to Canadians and we have sought the best talent to help deliver our vision to market,” said Ken Campbell, CEO of Globalive Wireless, in a release.
While Globalive’s brand name has not been decided yet, several options are being tested and a decision will likely be made by April with the help of the company’s new creative agency, said Robbins, who joined Globalive in mid-December.
Four Toronto shops—Bensimon Byrne, John St., Lowe Roche and Clean Sheet—are in the running to land the Globalive business, with final pitch meetings early this week and a decision likely before the week is out, said Robbins. Depending on the services of the winning shop, other agency partners will be added as needed in February.
Robbins was most recently with the large European telecom Vodafone, though before that he worked at Rogers and Nortel, so he familiar with the Canadian landscape. At Vodafone he helped lead the business through expansion into new segments, growing revenues by 80%.
Globalive intends to take on Bell, Telus and Rogers, but will do so with a smaller, though “substantial” marketing budget, said Robbins.
“I don’t think we need to spend as much as the incumbents spend in this market,” he said.
“One of my hero brands is Virgin Mobile,” he added. Though Virgin spends only a fraction of the big brands in the U.K., for example, it has better brand awareness and better creative. He thinks Globalive can enjoy the same kind of success. (Though Virgin is already in Canadian market it trails far behind the big three.)
Novosedlik was co-founder and partner of Toronto brand consulting firm Chemistry, working with clients like SaskTel, The Reitman Group, Cadillac Fairview and PC Financial.
“We are thrilled that Chris and Will have accepted the ambitious undertaking of bringing Canada’s fourth major wireless offering to market,” said Anthony Lacavera, chairman and CEO of Globalive Communications Corp., in the release.
Globalive has been preparing for its launch by gathering consumer feedback at WirelessSoapbox.com. The site invites visitors to share ideas and concerns about wireless and offer suggestions for how Globalive can be different than the existing players. To date there have been over 70,000 visitors and over 8,500 comments.
