Vodafone Re-branding Gets High Consumer Recognition

The latest results of a monthly study examining brand awareness in the mobile market in Ireland scores Vodafone as the leader with 88% total spontaneous awareness, one year on from the re-branding exercise that saw the older Eircell brand dropped.

The score of 88% has significantly exceeded the target score of 75% which was set in February 2002 and compares very favourably against 70% spontaneous awareness for mm02 and 54% for Meteor. The Vodafone brand is top of mind with 55% of the sample citing the brand as their first mention with 02 and Meteor scoring 23% and 5% on the same measure respectively. Top of mind is a key metric for illustrating the saliency of the brand in the mind of the consumer. Vodafone is clearly the most salient mobile brand in the Irish market at present.

The study is carried out by Millward Brown on a continuous basis throughout Ireland amongst a different sample of 300 adults every four weeks. Those interviewed in Ireland are representative of mobile phone users and potential users nationally.

The sample was also asked to score a number of positive and negative statements in relation to the three brands. 67% of the overall sample chose Vodafone as the leading mobile network in Ireland and one that is setting standards for the future. 77% of those aged between 16 and 24 believe that Vodafone lead the development of the next generation. And 73% of them said that Vodafone offers price plans that are easy to understand.

Marguerite Cremin, Head of Marketing Communications and Sponsorship at Vodafone commented: "Vodafone's investment in building the brand in Ireland is clearly recognisable through these scores. It is estimated that the average consumer experiences up to 3,000 brand messages a day - taking this into account, Vodafone Ireland has set an extremely high benchmark for creating awareness and communicating the benefits of a new brand"."

Posted to the site on 3rd March 2003