In this series, Rob Estreitinho looks at the advertising that actually works (with results), so you don’t have to. This week: BT Enterprise.
The problem
BT was losing market share among UK SMEs. Awareness was fine. Their problem was low consideration, and an unattractive brand image. They were seen as remote, uninterested, and expensive. None of the things any SME wants from a broadband provider.
The solution
The obvious thing to do: show BT Enterprise as human, interested, and affordable. But that alone would have led to predictable work that didn’t carry any differentiation. It was inherently a losing game.
Instead of competing on price, they decided to justify their value. And they doubled down on the most boring of attributes: reliability. The trick is how they did it, with the right choice of words and tone.
SME life is full of drama, so SME owners don’t need soft empathetic messages. They need a reliable problem solver. Someone who makes all the drama go away. BT Enterprise couple play to that.
That led to the ‘All business. No drama.’ campaign, which uses humour to show everyday SME hardships and positions BT Enterprise as the broadband business partner that removes needless drama.
The impact
Their IPA paper offers a lovely case for the power of verbal simplicity. Here’s a zero-drama breakdown of the results you need to know.
| Brand impact |
| Consideration: 47% → 54%, +7pts (350% vs target)First Choice Consideration: 28% → 33%, +5pts (67% vs target)Quality: +22pts to 60%Superiority: +19pts to 49%Reliability: +11pts to 51%Brand Trust: +11pts to 46%Flexible to changing needs: +18pts to 32%Cares about my business: +15pts to 32%Helps make my business better: +13pts to 33% |
| Commercial impact |
| Short-term margin: £5.7mProjected longer-term additional margin: £12.4mTotal estimated margin: £18.1mShort-term margin ROMI: £6.32 per £1 spent (+58% vs target)Short-term net profit ROMI: £3.26 per £1 spent (226%)Total estimated margin ROMI: £13.52: per £1 spentLonger-term net profit ROMI: £8.28 per £1 spent (728%)Year-on-year ROMI improvement vs prior campaigns: +22% |
Do this next week (while sipping an espresso)
- Play to your strengths. Don’t try to behave like the business you’re not. Instead articulate what already makes you special.
- Reframe price barriers. Pricing barriers are positioning questions. Find a position where living with the problem feels even costlier.
- Visualisable words. Don’t use abstract words (“reliability”). Make it feel vivid in the customer’s minds (“no drama”).
About the author
Rob Estreitinho runs Salmon Labs, a strategy studio for service brands who want to move fast and make things. Learn more about his work.
