Chatr, Rogers‘ discount mobile provider, is shifting its branding and customer acquisition efforts to target “life transitioners,” a large portion of which are new Canadians. It’s part of a series of branding adjustments the telco has made to its other wireless businesses.
“Chatr’s opening in the marketplace is about people who go through a life transition,” said Dale Hooper, Rogers’ chief brand officer. “What they need is consistency of their costs. They want to be able to be connected to home really easily.”
With new talk and data plans, Chatr now bills itself as an easy-to-use service that allows people living in a new city or country to get a phone with no credit checks or term contracts, and use it without having to buy international calling cards. The new “Let’s Get Going” tagline is meant to convey a sense that Chatr can help people get connected quickly and help establish them in a new place.
“When you move, you need a job, a bank and a house. To do all that, you need a phone,” Hooper said.
The new positioning is driving a media buy in major overseas markets – primarily in large cities. Largely digital media and search, the buy hopes to reach those looking to move to Canada.
Proximity/BBDO is the brand’s agency of record, and worked with Rogers’ internal marketing team on the revamped campaign alongside Balmoral Multicultural Marketing. OMD handled media duties.
Chatr is the third of Rogers’ mobile brands to get a branding tweak in as many months. Following an overhaul of its overarching namesake brand, Rogers’ adjusted Fido’s positioning with new services and a relationship with media partner Vice — all with an overall goal to present the company as more customer-focused.
Chatr, the smallest of its mobile businesses, launched in 2010 as Rogers faced competition from new discount mobile players after the government ran a wireless spectrum auction to increase market competition.
“Chatr was launched out of a competitive space,” Hooper said. “What we’ve done here is what we’ve done with every brand, which is to articulate the role it plays in customers’ lives,” Hooper said. “Rogers is premium and focused on everything a family needs, and Fido is focused on millennials and being there to create share-worthy experiences.”
Disclosure: Rogers owns Marketing and MarketingMag.ca
