Deutsche Telekom, the parent of T-Mobile, was managing a corporate brand and many strong subbrands across about 50 countries, with unclear brand perceptions and data that had never been brought together. Vivaldi Group built an operating model for brand leadership and a brand performance management system in three phases, ending in a global quantitative and qualitative research program with several thousand consumers and B2B customers. The system became the basis for resolving key brand architecture issues and for a unified branded customer experience.
Deutsche Telekom, known as T-Mobile in the US, faced unclear perceptions of its product and service brands, confusion about core brand values and fragmented customer relationships across its subbrands. It asked Vivaldi to establish a brand measurement system for the corporate brand and its subbrands across the 50 or so countries where it operated.
The problem was not too little data but too much, collected across the business and never integrated. Vivaldi set out an operating model for brand leadership across all brands, built a framework to position them and capture synergies, and developed a brand performance management system combining quantitative and qualitative research.
The brand performance management system became the basis for resolving several key brand architecture issues and led the way to a unified branded customer experience. Deutsche Telekom has since gone through a highly successful rebranding under new leadership and become the most valuable European telecom brand.
| Cliente | Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile in the US) |
|---|---|
| Industria | Telecomunicaciones |
| Región | About 50 countries |
| Vivaldi ámbito de aplicación | Operating model for brand leadership, brand architecture framework, brand performance management system, global research program |
| Research | Several thousand consumers, B2B customers and non-customers surveyed online across key markets |
| Resultado | The basis for resolving key brand architecture issues and for a unified branded customer experience |
Deutsche Telekom, known as T-Mobile in the US, asked Vivaldi to establish a brand measurement system to manage the corporate brand and its many subbrands across the 50 or so countries in which it operated. The aim was to simplify the brand architecture and unify major customer-facing touchpoints into one branded experience.
Several problems were holding back business performance and brand equity. Perceptions of the product and service brands were unclear, so the core brand values were only partly understood, and customer relationships were fragmented, and sometimes weak, across the subbrands. The brand architecture largely mirrored the organization chart rather than the way customers bought from Deutsche Telekom.
Vivaldi worked with senior executives on an operating model for brand leadership: a corporate brand at the center of strong customer-facing subbrands, each a global business and a strong brand in its own right. The team built a framework to position the brands, capture synergies across the portfolio and put in place the processes, policies and systems needed to manage it.
The central difficulty was not a lack of data but its abundance. As a regulated technology company, Deutsche Telekom collected data routinely, but CRM, customer support and media spending data sat in separate systems. Vivaldi turned this into a brand performance management system in three phases:
"Vivaldi Partners dio en el clavo en su trabajo para nosotros. No solo resolvieron un problema muy difícil, sino que además cumplieron sistemáticamente más de lo prometido."
The process mattered as much as the system. Over several months, Vivaldi facilitated workshops at corporate level, in the operating businesses and in key country markets. They set the agenda for multiple CMOs and their teams to agree roles and responsibilities and to work toward common goals for a unified Deutsche Telekom brand. Vivaldi’s three-tier framework for brand performance metrics follows the same logic.
The system was an early step in a larger transformation. Under new senior management and marketing leadership, Deutsche Telekom has since gone through a highly successful rebranding and is today the most valuable European telecom brand, with one source valuing the brand at more than $33 billion.
Deutsche Telekom engaged Vivaldi to build a brand measurement system for its corporate brand and subbrands across about 50 countries, where brand perceptions were unclear and data had never been integrated. Vivaldi developed an operating model for brand leadership and a brand performance management system in three phases, including a global survey of several thousand consumers and B2B customers. The system became the basis for resolving key brand architecture issues and for a unified branded customer experience.
Deutsche Telekom is a global telecommunications company headquartered in Germany and the parent of T-Mobile in the United States. It manages a corporate brand alongside a portfolio of customer-facing subbrands and is today the most valuable European telecom brand.
Vivaldi built an operating model for brand leadership and a brand performance management system for the corporate brand and its subbrands across about 50 countries. The system combined existing data with a global quantitative and qualitative research program.
It brings facts, data and analytics about the brands to every level of marketing leadership, up to the CEO. At Deutsche Telekom it linked brand measures to business performance and gave executives tools to monitor, diagnose and plan.
Data was collected routinely across the business, but CRM, customer support and media spending data sat in separate systems. Without integration, executives could not get one view of brand performance.
The system was an early step in a larger transformation. The later rebranding was led by new senior management and marketing leadership, and Deutsche Telekom is now the most valuable European telecom brand.