Optus goes for education with 5G network campaign

Helping dispel confusion around what the 5G network delivers to consumers is the motivation behind Optus’ first 5G network campaign.

The Singtel-owned telco officially debuted its 5G network this week, offering a 5G service to 138,000 homes as well as via on-the-go mobile services in more than 170 stores. The company said 5G will hit 1800 sites in the next 12 months, with more than 290 sites live today in Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and other locations across NSW, Victoria and Queensland.

5G is pegged as one of the most important technology trends in the telecommunications market for the next five years by Deloitte, delivering higher bandwidth, enabling experiences such as high-definition virtual reality and 4k streaming video, and reducing latency in telecoms networks by a factor of 10 to less than 10 milliseconds.

Read more: What the 5G revolution will do to mobile marketing

Optus is promising top home speeds of 400Mbps, with current average speed at peak times of 164Mbps and a guaranteed 50Mbps download speeds at any time. The company has already signed-up 200 customers to its home service as part of a pre-launch pilot.

“Underpinned by a robust network deployment plan, we expect significant 5G customer growth as our 5G network expands and delivers customers a game-changing, world-leading experience on their 5G home and 5G mobile devices,” Optus CEO, Allen Lew, said.

But with plenty of confusion circling 5G and what it means for the typical consumer, Optus head of marketing, Melissa Hopkins, said the telco opted to put the emphasis on education in its inaugural marketing campaign.

The campaign is all about simplifying and explaining to Australians how 5G works. The campaign centres around several character groups of five, all beginning with the letter ‘G’ such as five geniuses, five grannies, five guitarists, and five game characters, and each explaining a different aspect of the new technology in what she said was a ‘playful way’.

The campaign was created in partnership with creative studio, Bear Meets Eagle, and Swedish direct, Andrea Nilsson of Revolver/Will O’Rourke, and is running as 30-second TV as well as cinema advertising.

“People don’t want something they don’t understand,” Hopkins said. “This is just the start of an ongoing conversation that we will continue to have with Australians as Optus 5G continues to roll out.”

To build on the focus of 5G in the creative construct, Hopkins said Optus had changed its launch from Optus to ‘Optu5G’ for the duration of the campaign.

Alongside the network service, Optus will launch 4k Ultra HD Live Football content via Optus Sport in June 2020, and is also working with OTT video content partners including 7plus, Amazon Prime video, Netflix, Fetch and Stan to optimise forthcoming 4k content for its network from next year.

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