OSKAR BECOMES VODAFONE
On February 1, Oskar Mobil a.s. becomes Vodafone Czech Republic a.s. The biggest mobile operator in the world* will thus be operating directly in the Czech Republic.
On February 1, Oskar Mobil a.s. becomes Vodafone Czech Republic a.s. The biggest mobile operator in the world* will thus be operating directly in the Czech Republic.
Preparations for the transition to the global brand of the Vodafone family have lasted eight months: in June 2005, Oskar Mobile a.s. came into the possession of the Vodafone Group.
“In the context of our firm’s transition to the new brand, we launched a multi-phase campaign. In the first phase it was important to introduce Vodafone as the successor of the popular Oskar brand, and to increase awareness of it among Czech people. In the second phase, which will begin tomorrow, we will immediately continue doing this and we want to familiarise the public with the long-term benefits and the introductory offer of the Vodafone brand,” says Igor Přerovský, Vodafone’s Vice-President of Brand and Communications.
On June 1, 2005, the “Paint it Red” (Načerveno) campaign began, through which Oskar announced that it had become a part of the Vodafone Group. A month later, the operator started using a dual logo that consisted of the Oskar and Vodafone logos. The beginning of October saw the launch of the “Join in” (Přidejte se) campaign, which revealed a wide range of benefits from the world’s biggest mobile family.
According to Igor Přerovský, the campaign was successful. The Vodafone brand entered the public’s subconscious, thereby making the public familiar with the brand. “According to surveys conducted by our external agencies, in January 60% Czechs knew the Vodafone brand and 53% said they have already taken a liking to it,” adds Přerovský.
The new Vodafone brand
The Oskar logo and name will not be used as of February 1. From tomorrow, only the Vodafone brand will appear on all of the firm’s communication. Products and services and mobile telephone displays are also being rebranded, new decals are being put on company vehicles, and the email addresses of all the operator’s employees were changed to the vodafone.com domain at the beginning of January.
The Vodafone brand appeared last year in connection with the launch of the activities of the Vodafone Czech Republic Foundation and in the operation of the company’s Christmas holiday ice-skating rinks. The Czech Republic is also the first country in which Vodafone is holistically introducing, for the very first time, its brand new global identity, and especially its new three-dimensional logo.
Products and services
Together with the transition to the new brand, changes will also be made to most of the names of the operator’s products and services. The most frequent are in the chart.
| Staré názvy | Nové názvy |
|---|---|
| Oskar Mobil a.s. | Vodafone Czech Republic a.s. |
| Oskarta | Vodafone Card |
| OskarLinka | Vodafone Care |
| OskarKontakt | Vodafone Sales |
| OskarBusinessLinka | Vodafone Business Care |
| OskarBusinessKontakt | Vodafone Business Sales |
| My Number One | Number One Program |
| My Family | Family Program |
| My Favourites | Favourites Program |
| My Bundles | Vodafone Bundles |
| Oskarova Self Care | My Vodafone Self Care |
| Oskaravan | Vodafone Tour |
| Tarify Naplno | Full Tariffs |
The prices, structure of tariffs and conditions for providing all services will remain unchanged.
Shops and contacts
All 54 existing shops will remain in the same locations. Tomorrow at night, their exteriors will be transformed to sport the Vodafone brand. All of the contact information at sales outlets, headquarters and operator lines are the same as they were before.
Users can also look forward to even a wider range of high quality services, continuing investments to the network, and the offer of new products. The foundation of the operators approach to customers will consist of:
- A uniform price to all networks
- Simpler and more advantageous roaming
- 24/7 customer support
- Further improvements to the network and the signal
Vodafone will also remain the most advantageous operator on the market. All Full Tariffs and the Vodafone Super Card will maintain the principle of one rate – the same price for calls to all networks at any time period.
With the new Vodafone World service, valid as of February 1, 2006, roaming will be simpler and more transparent for customers:
- Only 3 price zones – in the framework of zones with uniform prices.
- 15% cheaper outbound roaming calls within Vodafone’s global network and Vodafone Czech Republic’s partner networks.
- A uniform rate for inbound and outbound roaming calls and SMSes.
- A uniform rate when calling all networks in the Czech Republic for everyone.
A Vodafone customer can choose from a vast array of possibilities to connect to their customer account. If they prefer Self-Service, they have four means to choose from: Voice, SMS, Pocket and Internet. If a customer requires assistance, Vodafone operators are prepared 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Vodafone has increased the accessibility of its operator lines and offers non-stop service.
In 2005 the operator erected a new BTS station for every working day and continued increasing its investments in equipping the network technologically. This year it also intends to improve the quality of its signal. Vodafone is planning to erect several hundred new BTS stations throughout the Czech Republic by the end of the year. The company expects the investments for 2006 might exceed those made in 2005. Its priority will be to improve the quality of coverage in buildings. A 99.79% success rate for dispatched calls in 2005 is another testament to the quality of the network.
You can find further information at www.vodafone.cz.