VodafoneThree / SMARTY

Our work with SMARTY drove 25% sales growth, doubled awareness, and achieved market leadership in simplicity – all while major competitors were slashing prices.

The Momentum Challenge

SMARTY faced an existential threat. The SIM-only mobile brand had built success on being cheaper than the big networks. Until they crashed the low-cost party, matching SMARTY's prices with massive budgets behind them.

Despite more media investment, sales share was sliding. Customer acquisition dropped. Being the cheapest was no longer enough – SMARTY needed a reason to exist beyond price.

The Joined-up Solution

Rather than just tweaking campaigns, we assembled a bespoke team combining data intelligence, cultural insight, brand strategy, and integrated communications to fundamentally transform what SMARTY stood for.

We discovered the emotional truth in the data. It revealed SMARTY customers weren't just ‘budget-conscious' – they were frustrated with unnecessary complexity everywhere. Our audience over-indexed on negative emotions, defining themselves by what annoyed them.

Instead of fighting on price, we repositioned SMARTY as the brand that stands against complexity. “Less Malarkey. More SMARTY" became our rallying cry – taking aim at overengineered nonsense across culture, not just mobile.

Integrated execution across every touchpoint: 

• Creative & Content: Karl Pilkington-fronted campaigns calling out cultural malarkey
• Comms Strategy: Multi-channel approach from TV to reactive press ads
• Customer Experience: Stripped complexity from every interaction
• Performance Marketing: Behaviour-driven communications that built loyalty, not just sales

The Momentum Delivered 

Explosive growth in a declining market: 

• 25% increase in total sales volume
• +1.1pp market share growth (from 3.9% to 5%)
• 64% customer base growth while category declined -8.2%

Brand transformation beyond price: 

• Doubled brand awareness and consideration
• 74% above category average for ‘keeps things simple'
• 367% increase in emotional brand associations
• 15% reduction in customer churn despite rapid growth

Fusing audience intelligence, cultural insight, creative impact, and seamless experience transformed SMARTY from price-fighter to cultural force.