Portugal - Meo tops 100,000 customers

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
Portugal Telecom logo

The numbers reveal the success of Portugal Telecom (PT)’s television service. Meo has already topped 100,000 customers. This goal has been anticipated by six months. In the second quarter of 2008 there were 53,000 adhesions registered, more than the double the number in the first quarter of this year. The merit is attributed to the employees who contribute daily to this success

“It is the people, their quality and creative talent that make the difference” Zeinal Bava’s words contain the incentive and the motivation for PT’s television service to grow. Meo has increased in numbers and has earned its place in the market day by day. Portugal Telecom had aimed at attaining 100,000 customers until the end of the year. The achievement of this goal has been anticipated by six months. More than 100,000 “meo commanders” have already taken the control of the television of the future.

PT had 47,000 Meo customers at the end of the first quarter of 2008. Meo’s massification strategy was presented in April, an important turning point for the company. The adhesions more than doubled in little more than two months. During this period there were more than 53,000 adhesions thus attaining customer number 100,000 before the end of June. This Meo IPTV customer will receive a complete Meo package until the end of the year cost-free.

This was a challenge for all. The responsibility and the success of this achievement can be attributed to PT’s employees and in particular to the teams that, in several fronts, enable the success of this bet. From technological development, including strategic management, sales and customer service, to marketing and communication, several teams give birth to and make the television of the future grow, in an integrated way. These results are representative of everyone’s commitment, and induce the continuation of growth of PT’s television service.

Portugal Telecom’s television service is an important strategic axis due to the growth potential of this segment in the national telecommunications market. This service allows the consolidation of the value proposition offered to residential customers. It should enable Portugal Telecom to increase its average customer revenue, by selling additional services and simultaneously contribute to improving customer retention by means of an attractive triple-play service offer at competitive prices. The implementation of this strategy is already reflected on Portugal Telecom’s capacity to regain customers in the competitive residential market.

Meo in retrospective

The massification strategy, presented on 2 April 2008, was essential for the anticipated attainment of objectives, in an event to which employees, partners and the press have been summoned. Meo became the brand aggregating PT’s new service offer, at home (IPTV or Satellite), via mobile (with Meo Mobile) or in the PC (via Sapo’s transversal contents).

The numbers made everyone believe in a successful communication campaign whose protagonists were the Gatos Fedorento comedians: 2.5 million people watched the Communiqué to the Nation, transmitted on the generalist channels, at 19h55m, on 2 April 2008. With 81% of audience share, this was the start of the teaser period of the campaign. The Communiqué implied innovation not only in terms of the television offer, but also in the form of communication with expressions such as “portugueses, portuguesas, meos”.

At the end of April, this advertisement performed by Gatos Fedorento attained 49.9% of proven recall, according to the data published by Publivaga, Marktest’s advertising analysis report. This rate is the highest ever when all the advertising campaigns of telecommunications companies are analyzed, since 2005.

The delivery of bids for the provision of open and subscription channels in the scope of the Digital Terrestrial Television tenders, on 23 April, is also representative of PT’s bet on television.