Senior Creative | EE National Campaigns | Brand Development
EE launched in October 2012 as the UK's first 4G mobile network, formed from the merger of Orange and T-Mobile. It was a brand built from scratch, entering one of the most competitive consumer markets in the country with a name nobody recognized and a technology most people had never heard of.
I joined the creative team at a senior level during the brand's early development, contributing to the foundational work that shaped how EE would show up in the world. That work extended across the full channel mix: out-of-home, paid social, and in-store creative, building a consistent visual and tonal language at every touchpoint where a new customer might first encounter the brand.
The results speak for themselves. Within two years of launch, EE had become a Consumer Superbrand, the youngest standalone brand ever to achieve that status in the UK, and one of the fastest growing brands in the country. It hit one million customers just ten months after launch, four months ahead of target. What began as an unknown name became one of the most recognized brands in Britain.
Christmas Promotion.
EOY performance breakdown.
Digital in-store coverage map promotion.
Seasonal product promotions.
In-Store Creative
Retail was a critical channel for EE. For many customers, the store was the first physical encounter with a brand they had only seen on a billboard or a social feed. The in-store creative needed to do everything at once: communicate a new network, explain a new technology, and make the whole thing feel worth the switch. The work spanned product promotions, seasonal campaigns, iPhone launches, and coverage map displays, all designed to convert consideration into action.
Pushing the boundaries of audience engagement
Building brand recognition is one challenge. Building brand intimacy is another. Alongside the core campaign work, we explored how emerging technology could transform even the most mundane customer touchpoints into moments of genuine engagement.
One of the most ambitious experiments involved AR-enhanced print. At a time when augmented reality was still largely a novelty, we developed some of the first examples of AR-integrated billing documents, turning what is traditionally one of the least engaging pieces of customer communication into an interactive brand experience. Customers could point their phone at their monthly statement and bring it to life, accessing content, offers, and direct interactions with the EE brand from a piece of paper they were already holding.
The ambition behind it was simple: every touchpoint is an opportunity. If you can make a bill feel like a feature, you have built something that most brands never achieve: a reason for customers to look forward to hearing from you.
Out-of-home and paid social were where the brand had to earn attention without the benefit of context or time. The creative had to be immediately legible, confident, and distinct from a category that was already cluttered. The Christmas promotional campaign shown here is a good example of the tone: bold, warm, direct, with visual energy that stood out on a street or in a feed.
