How Lebara Mobile doubled market share by targeting savvy shoppers

Lebara was on a mission to target mobile phone customers on the lookout for better value. Research found that while the big four mobile networks serve 80% of customers, 71% of phone users consume less data than their package includes.

Based on this information, the challenger network identified a target audience of 24.8 million “smart savers”, people questioning if their existing provider is the best choice.

Having traditionally relied on a pure price message, Lebara studied other value brands such as Aldi and Lidl, which revealed the need to overcome misconceptions that low prices equal poor quality.

Armed with this knowledge, Lebara had three aims. To become the fastest growing network brand in a flat market, increase subscribers and reduce churn.

The idea was to use TV and YouTube to explain its ‘smarter’ positioning to prospective customers. Messaging around no annual price rises coincided with the Government’s annual Budget, while creative promoting free roaming landed during the summer holidays and ‘Smarter Savings’ messaging ran as consumers kickstarted Christmas shopping.

While affiliates and search were used to harvest existing demand, Lebara ran its radio campaign between local and national stations, reaching 43.1 million people. The outdoor strategy mixed roadside and transport links in the summer, with retail locations in the winter.

The digital audience was segmented by platform and behaviour, with Lebara introducing TikTok into its media mix.

The campaign drove an 8.4% increase in awareness, while the network’s perception of being ‘good value for money’ rose 30%. Crucially, Lebara increased consideration and purchase intent, as well as growing its customer base. Winner of the 2024 Marketing Week Award for Media and Telecoms, the campaign helped Lebara increase its market share by 50%.