Cuckoo

As a more established challenger brand than in its start-up days, and with benefits like fixed-price contracts no longer part of our offering, Cuckoo was calling out for an identity refresh. I wrote and developed ‘Broadband, done better’ – a line that captured our rallying cry for higher standards. It continued to call out what the industry got wrong, while positioning Cuckoo as a brand that does broadband properly – not by being the cheapest or the biggest, but by doing things better where it matters.

To bring it to life, I developed a manifesto and messaging systems with a clear and cohesive framework for how we communicate. These unpacked common customer frustrations and show how Cuckoo resolves them, in ready-to-use formats designed to be applied consistently across all comms.

This brand repositioning showed strong conversion – driving a 48% CTR uplift when applying the new positioning line compared with the previous quarter.

To launch ‘Broadband, done better’, I concepted a spoof OOH campaign that took everyday ‘upgrades’ and tied them back to our broadband – helping to make the idea instantly relatable.

I wrote and developed multiple YouTube and UGC ads – from script through to feedback. These were inspired by current frustrations with the broadband industry, and how we solved them through our USPs – amazing customer service, fair pricing, fast full fibre speeds.

For Cuckoo’s 2024 company event, I helped turn a corporate gathering into a full-blown space opera. The idea cast Cuckoo as a rebellious broadband force taking on the industry giants — Sky’lar, EE-2E, BT-3PO and Virginoid. The concept ran across a reworked Cuckoo logo, branded drinks tickets, planetarium signage and a parody of the iconic Star Wars opening crawl — still one of the best things I’ve ever had the joy of writing.

From manifesto to mission, 3D worlds blurb to Tone of Voice, I crafted Cuckoo’s ‘Proper Eggy’ brand guidelines for all the world to see. This included a conceptual writing framework, ‘Writing in Yellow’, plus messaging guidelines for style, structure and vibe. And, in proper ‘Cuckoo’ fashion, we launched these on an external website – so anyone can see how we write, design and think. These guidelines were submitted for a D&AD Yellow Pencil award under the category of Brand Strategy, 1–249. Find them at propereggy.com.

I wrote ads across the full digital marketing mix – from tone-led meta consideration concepts, through to hardworking lower-funnel creative attracting prospects to our half-price offer.

From hooks to shoots, scriptwriting to storyboarding, I developed a tonne of concepts for social media organic. This included ideas around our key benefits (like the Refer a Friend story for Instagram below) to drive talkability, plus supporting on campaigns such as ‘Good Eggs’ – where team members answered off-beat questions and did a bit of show-and-tell. I even got to do some filming alongside our Bobsleigh sponsor team at their Olympic track. (And I went bobsleighing myself!)

As part of our ‘Refer a Friend’ incentive programme, I paired with our Art Director to concept a B2B partnership sub-brand identity – asking local businesses to sponsor us in exchange for a cash referral.

What do you do to get brand fame with absolutely no budget? A wacky idea, and a bit of nerve. We reached out to folks living on ‘Cuckoo Close’ offering them two years of free broadband, simply because we shared a name – then asked them to talk us up on social media. Turning coincidence into earned attention.

I partnered with our Art Director to bring to life ‘Broadband, done better’ across all our web pages – including how we position our key product, eero, and our different speeds. Plus, we had way too much fun advertising the benefits of security, and just how powerful your Wi-Fi signal could be.

Across the end-to-end customer journey, I oversaw hundreds of comms – from warm prospect emails through to winback, welcome messages to Star Wars-themed buffering blogs.

Door-to-door sales was one of Cuckoo’s primary conversion channels. I led on a key Sales Presenter Pack document, built to sell our broadband, cover our range of products concisely, field any questions, and turn prospects into paying customers. This was paired with a DM leaflet capturing Cuckoo’s reasons to buy.

Plus, I wrote our ‘Battlecards’ messaging: arming retention teams with reasons to stay with Cuckoo over competitors – cheaper prices, faster speeds, better tech – to win back customers on the verge of leaving.

I also led on core campaign messaging and USPs across the marketing mix, such as our 6-month half-price offer.

I developed the launch of Cuckoo Mobile – our SIM-only range – from headlines to product positioning. Plus, I wrote the Cuckoo App from scratch – which was designed as a self-serve function reducing calls in to Customer Care. This required a hybrid blend of Cuckoo tone and functional UX/UI copy, working with UX designers and product managers throughout in iterative sprints.