Freeserve plans ad blitz for £20m Wanadoo rebrand

Marketing 08-Apr-04

Freeserve is to unveil a long-running advertising campaign that will tell customers it is changing its name to that of its French parent, Wanadoo.

The £20m rebrand, confirmed at the end of last week, was first revealed at the end of last year (Marketing November 13). The activity will see the UK's biggest ISP come into line with the rest of Wanadoo Europe.

The change will take place in two phases over the next few months. An integrated campaign will support the message that 'Freeserve is changing'.

Initial ads, created by M&C Saatchi, will show the ISP's trademark hippy characters maturing and will include Freeserve's first use of outdoor ad space.

A second tranche of advertising will break before the summer to launch Wanadoo as a brand in the UK.

Freeserve will also use direct marketing to target its 2.6 million customers. Mailings will inform them that their e-mail addresses will remain the same despite the rebrand.

The ISP is currently looking for a consumer managing director to replace Keith Hawkins, who quit last month.