Orange SA
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Image:Orange logo.gif Orange SA is a major mobile phone operator. It owns networks in many parts of the world, including France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Dominican Republic, Poland (see Orange Polska), Slovakia (see Orange Slovensko), Romania (see Orange Romania), Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Botswana, Madagascar, Réunion and on Martinique, French Guiana and St Kitts in the Caribbean. It also franchises the Orange Brand in Israel, Australia, India and Hong Kong. It has a joint venture with Charoen Pokphand in Thailand. Orange's advertising slogan "The future's bright, the future's Orange" accompanies the Orange brand and is used globally.
The Orange brand originated in the United Kingdom in 1994. Orange UK was originally majority owned by Hutchison Whampoa and was the successor to their short-lived mobile telephone system known as Rabbit introduced in the 1980s. It was originally announced as Hutchison Microtel, but before launch the company brought in corporate identity specialists Wolff Olins, and advertising agency WCRS, which created the Orange brand.
The present company was formed by France Télécom in 2001 after acquiring Orange UK (which had been acquired by Mannesmann AG, itself purchased by Vodafone shortly after, leading Vodafone to divest Orange) and merging its existing mobile operations into the company. The company was initially 85% owned by France Télécom, but in 2003 the remaining 15% was purchased.
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Recent changes
In June 2005, France Télécom announced that its ISP Wanadoo and business service Equant will both be renamed Orange in 2006 to harmonize branding. [1] In July 2005, France Télécom announced its intention to acquire 80% of the Spanish mobile phone operator Amena, a deal that should complete in November 2005. Amena will also rebrand to Orange with Wanadoo in Spain and Uni2, a fixed line provider, to complete a "triple play".
On the 1st February 2006, Hutchison Telecom announced it would withdraw the Orange brand name from Australia. The Orange network is now known as 3 CDMA. At present, nothing but branding is set to change however the eventual aim is to transfer Orange customers to 3 and then close what was the Orange CDMA network.
The Orange brand name has also now been removed from India. Orange Mumbai has now been rebranded to Hutch. The website simply states that "Orange is now Hutch in Mumbai" before redirecting to the Hutch website.
Operations within the Orange Group
Most operations in Orange SA are also branded Orange, but not all - the most significant exception being Mobistar in Belgium. The most recent conversion to the Orange brand to be announced was PTK Centertel in Poland, in September, 2005, formerly known as Idea. Unlike competitor Vodafone, which usually introduces its brand name gradually through dual branding, Orange has generally totally rebranded operations from one day to the next, as was the case with Idea.
To complicate matters further there is an Orange branded operation in Israel, but this sub-licence the brand from Orange SA, with the underlying operator being owned by another company (usually Hutchison Telecom, the brand's original owner).
Orange also belongs to the FreeMove cell phone alliance.
Image in Britain
In the UK, Orange has come under pressure from customers to improve the Customer Services department due to many reports of poor existing customer services and expensive mobile contract upgrades compared to previous years, other mobile phone networks and Orange's deals for new customers. In response, an advertising campaign was run to re-enforce the company's commitment to customer service, although many existing customers are still not convinced, which has lead to many moving to other mobile phone service networks. Campaigns have also been run to advertise the new 3G service and featured public faces such as Elton John and Stephen Fry. Jane Copland has been the voice of Orange since the company's early years.
At the cinema
Image:Brennanbrown.jpg At many cinemas across the UK, advertisements for Orange are shown directly before the film, normally after any other adverts and film trailers- the so-called "gold spot". The adverts feature short sketches involving various celebrities (including the current advert with Patrick Swayze and previous adverts with John Cleese, Ewan MacGregor and Darth Vader all pitching their crackpot film ideas to an imaginary Orange Film Funding Board). Throughout the sketch, the orange Executives (including Brennan Brown and Steve Furst) manipulate the idea into film which promotes Orange through product placement; the catch line is "Don't let your mobile ruin your film, please turn off your mobiles".
On television
The ongoing campaign to improve Customer Service now takes the form of Brennan Brown's Mr Dresden, as well as Steve Furst's character working alongside a Japanese wise-man. An ongoing joke is the wise-man offering little advice at all, and in fact insulting Mr Dresden, while it is Steve Furst's character giving the ideas, as a supposed translation of the wise-man's words. Though recently the duos commercials have not appeared on television, and have been replaced by a rather different commercial identity to try to create a more personal link with the customer. The duo will still appear in the cinema. This has resulted in a better image for Orange recently.
Competitors
In the United Kingdom
- O2_plc (official UK website)
- T-Mobile (official UK website)
- 3 (telecommunications) (official UK website)
- Vodafone (official UK website)
See also
External links
- Orange Partner - Orange Group's own developer/partner programme, enabling businesses worldwide to commercialise their applications on the Orange network.da:Orange (teleselskab)
de:Orange (Unternehmen) fr:Orange (société) nl:Orange (telefonie) pl:Orange (telefonia) pt:Orange (telefonia móvel) sk:Orange Slovensko