Integration of Audience Verticals

Orange’s overall strategy served four core audience segments, one of which was partitioned into a separate B2C brand for parents. The other three segments weren’t aligned with the overall Orange brand and presented consistently confusing relationships between audience value propositions and the overall Orange brand. This led to external and internal confusion and massive inefficiencies in operational support and go-to-market strategy. We needed to clarify and realign audience strategy to fit within the context of the brand.

Project Goals and Objectives

• Unify the Orange brand and its sub-brands to build audience awareness and clarity
• Improve brand consistency and messaging
• Streamline content creation and distribution
• Enhance audience targeting and personalization

Strategy

‍We transitioned from the use of sub-brands to serve audiences and instead migrated to personalized and audience-centric content systems within the global Orange brand.

• Content, not logos, creates resonance. We faced internal concerns over the ability to connect with audiences in the absence of segmented sub-brands. We addressed those concerns by articulating how the strategy would actually expand Orange’s ability to deliver audience-centric content. With better alignment, we could create more content at scale, improve search rankings, and find cost efficiencies to reinvest in audience channels. To meet the need for more contextual content, we launched a new series of audience-specific content, including a podcast, revamped newsletters, and new investments in community-centric channels with an inbound strategy geared to attract with audience-specific content.
• Choose your silos intentionally. Our evaluation found that our audiences had more core commonalities than distinctions, suggesting that while each vertical needed a contextualized approach, many of the core platforms should be shared between audiences. We redesigned the blog, resource center, and integrated web platforms to create one cohesive user experience that brought users new value alongside improved navigation and content filtering tools.
• External reorganization should require internal reorganization. A key pillar of this strategy was shifting our marketing and sales team from a siloed series of roles to a truly cross-functional integrated team. Through the re-org, we achieved better specialization across functions, new agility in our go-to-market model, and better alignment with critical business goals.

Results and Achievements

• Enhanced brand consistency: We launched a unified design system and messaging across digital properties, achieving consistency at each touchpoint.
• Improved content efficiency: Streamlined content creation and distribution processes brought cost savings in content administration, operations, and technology.
• Increased audience engagement: With targeted content for specific audience segments, we…
• Strengthened brand authority: The process shaped a stronger, more cohesive Orange brand where audience segments gained and built authority with the global brand. Most importantly, we said goodbye to misunderstood relationships between products and brands.

Summary

The realignment of Orange’s audience strategy is one of my most complex projects to date. The internal impact of the change was difficult to navigate, but in the end led to significant improvements in content efficiency and cost savings. By breaking down silos and building true cross-functional collaboration, we achieved a more agile and effective go-to-market strategy. Ultimately, this project transformed Orange into a more cohesive and authoritative brand, delivering greater value to each vertical.