Lebara – We Are All Migrants

Objective:

Lebara, the ubiquitous budget mobile operator, is a default choice for many new arrivals moving to European countries. It’s affordable long distance rates have been an established convenience for calling friends and family back home and the brand has focused on being available at ports of entry. However, Lebara faced a retention challenge, as migrants swapped to a ‘proper’ phone provider once settled. How could Lebara increase retention and change brand attitudes, while still honouring its position and heritage?

Insight:

In many European countries, migrant has become a dirty word. After Brexit and with an increase in anti-immigration news and policies, those who move to new countries face increasing challenges. Many of the behaviours we celebrate in ourselves, aspiration and chasing goals, we ignore or vilify in migrants. We even call economically upscale migrants ‘ex-pats’ to speak more positively about them.

Approach: 

Shift the identity of Lebara’s migrant customer segment from being negatively identified to being more celebrated and aspirational. Reframe the way migrants are seen by championing the attitudes and behaviours we all share with them. Create a new label – ‘global citizens’ that can encompass anyone who shares these values or beliefs.

Idea:

‘We Are All Migrants’ is a statement that says because we all have dreams and aspirations, we are all more similar than you would expect. It builds on this similarity to  create a new label in ‘Global Citizens’ that migrants and non-migrants can identify with – to create greater relevance after settlement for the brand.  The campaign lived as digital and social assets, as well as a TVC in the Netherlands. It launched simultaneously with a new retail and visual identity for the brand.

// Agency: VaynerMedia EMEA

// Role: Head of Strategy