Orange UK
Encyclopedia
Orange is a mobile network operator
and internet service provider
in the United Kingdom
, which launched in 1994. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
but was purchased by France Télécom
in 2000, which then adopted the Orange brand for all its other mobile communications activities. Orange UK has since merged with Deutsche Telekom
's T Mobile UK
to form a joint venture, Everything Everywhere
. Orange UK has over 17 million customers through its mobile and broadband
services.
, Millicom
and French company Matra
(British Aerospace soon acquired full control of the company). In 1991 Microtel was awarded a license to develop a mobile network in the UK, and in July 1991 Hutchison Telecommunications (UK) Ltd acquired Microtel from BAe. BAe was paid in Hutchison Telecommunications (UK) Ltd. shares, giving the company a 30% share. Hutchison Whampoa held 65% and Barclays Bank the remaining 5%. Microtel was renamed Orange Personal Communications Services Ltd. in 1994. The Orange brand, at the time an unusual name for a telecommunications firm, was created by an internal team at Microtel headed by Chris Moss (Marketing Director) and supported by Martin Keogh, Rob Furness and Ian Pond. The brand consultancy Wolff Olins
was charged with designing the brand values and logo and advertising agency WCRS created the Orange slogan "The future's bright, the future's Orange". The Orange 1800-MHz GSM network was launched on 28 April 1994. Orange plc was formed in 1995 as a holding company for the Orange group.
The company was bought by Mannesmann AG in October 1999. Vodafone
subsequently acquired Mannesman in February 2000 and, not being allowed to hold two mobile telephone licences in the UK, decided to sell Orange UK to France Télécom
in May 2000.
France Télécom subsequently rebranded all its mobile telecommunications as Orange. The company was initially 100% owned by France Telecom (although there were and still remain minority investors in some of the national operating companies). In 2001 15% was sold in an IPO
, but in 2003 the outstanding shares were bought back by France Telecom.
's Orange and T-Mobile
parent Deutsche Telekom
announced they were in advanced talks to merge their UK operations to create the largest mobile operator with 37% of the market. The long-term future of either brand is unclear though both would be retained for the first eighteen months at least.
Consumer Focus
and the Communications Consumer Panel sent a joint letter to the then Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes
in December 2009 asking for the merger to be investigated by authorities in the United Kingdom
, rather than Brussels
. The British Office of Fair Trading
joined this call by asking the EU to allow it to investigate the proposed deal in February 2010, saying that it believed the merger could have a 'significant' effect on competition.
On 1 March 2010 the European Commission approved the merger, on the condition that the combined company sell 25% of the spectrum it owns on the 1800 MHz radio band and amend a network sharing agreement with smaller rival 3
.
On 1 April 2010 Deutsche Telekom and France Telekom finalised the deal and completed the merger of their UK based operations, causing Orange UK and T-Mobile UK to cease to exist, although the brands will be maintained for at least 18 months.
On 11 May 2010 it was announced that both the Orange and T-Mobile brands will remain on British high streets, although their new merged parent company will be called Everything Everywhere
.
service plans.
As with other prepaid plans, pay as you go mobile users are given the option to top-up their phone via a swipe card, over the internet, by voucher bought printed as a receipt from a till or via a credit or debit card.
The pay monthly service gives customers an option of 1, 12, 18 or 24 month contracts. The contracts come 'bundled' with minutes, text messages and within some contracts data and insurance services; additional charges can be incurred for Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS) and Mobile Data services. The 18 and 24 month contracts usually come bundled with a free phone, whereas the 30 day and 12 month plans tend to be 'SIM Only' i.e. the customer provides their own phone. SIM Only plans usually have more minutes and texts than their full phone contract equivalent, as there is no phone cost to factor in.
Orange UK operates a GPRS, EDGE
and 3G
service and is in the process of rolling out a HSDPA network. Orange's 2G
network covers 99% of the UK population and has the largest integrated 3G/2.5G network in the UK, Orange claimed in 2008 it spent up to £1.5 million per day investing in its network. In 2009, Orange UK decided to outsource its mobile network. Therefore, in March 2009, Nokia Siemens Networks
was chosen to manage, plan, expand, optimise and provide maintenance services for the Orange UK 2G/3G mobile network for the next five years.
In addition to this Orange UK provides DSL services, under the same brand. Originally operated as Freeserve in the UK it was bought-out by France Telecom
, rebranded as Wanadoo and on 1 June 2006 Wanadoo was rebranded Orange. When Orange launched its DSL broadband service it offered it for 'free', joining TalkTalk in the foray for market share. The company has attempted to converge its mobile and DSL broadband products and like its competitors offers DSL broadband services alongside its mobile services, at a subsidized rate (up to £15 off full price per month for Orange mobile customers in an Orange Broadband network area - the prices quoted in Orange publications include these discounts). Orange now offers 'triple-play' services converging mobile, landline and DSL broadband. Orange UK on its highest broadband service used to offer a Livebox which integrates VoIP technology as well as WiFi
, but in more recent times, this has router has been replaced by a Netgear
router. It has been confirmed that Orange intends to launch a video on demand
service through its DSL broadband service.
Later in April 2008 Orange extended its animals to Pay as you go customers, introducing Dolphin, Raccoon, Canary, Camel and Monkey. Dolphin, Monkey and Canary offer bonuses, whilst Raccoon is a discounted call rate and Camel is for a call-abroad tariff giving discounted calls to foreign countries.
Orange, like other mobile networks, offers an "Internet Everywhere" tariff on pay as you go, pay monthly and business plans. The tariffs names for pay monthly were aligned with the animals theme in May 2010 and Orange now offers both Dolphin and Racoon plans for internet use available on both 1 month and 12 month contracts. In August 2011, the price plans were revised, and names changed to Small, Medium, and Large. Similar to with home broadband, Orange mobile customers receive a £5 discount on their mobile broadband plan. The business plans remained as "Business Everywhere". The 12 month plans come with a USB modem (or dongle) for free. The customer is required to pay a small price for the dongle on the 1 month plans. A portable WiFi dongle can also be purchased, dubbed "Mobile WiFi". The service operates across the network's EDGE
, 3G
, HSDPA and HSUPA network and offers speeds of up to 3.6 Mbit/s. Orange announced in June 2008 that this speed would be increased to 7.2Mbit/s in the top 30 UK cities and 14.4 Mbit/s in the top 5 cities.
branches across the UK.
Contracts and pay as you go phones with Orange are also available from other retailers, such as Carphone Warehouse, Phones4u, Argos
and smaller independent mobile phone dealers, operating either in physical retail, online, through call centres or even supermarkets.
Orange were the first British mobile phone network whose products could be bought online, from the UK's first online mobile phone dealer Mobiles.co.uk.
, Dennis Hopper
, Macaulay Culkin
, Val Kilmer
, Mena Suvari
, Michael Madsen
, Steven Seagal
, Sean Astin
, Patrick Swayze
, Carrie Fisher
, Roy Scheider
, Spike Lee
, John Cleese
, Anjelica Huston
, Jack Black
, Alan Cumming
, Verne Troyer
, Daryl Hannah
, Ewan McGregor
, Snoop Dogg
, Darth Vader
, Emilio Estevez
, Juliette Lewis
, Sigourney Weaver
and Danny Glover
, The A-Team
. Throughout the sketch, a pair of fictional Orange executives, played by Brennan Brown
and Steve Furst
, manipulate an idea into film which promotes Orange through product placement
, despite the product being completely 'out-of-place' (a mobile phone in a Western Film
is one example); the catch line is "Don't let a mobile phone ruin your movie. Please switch it off." After five years, Orange changed advertising agencies and replaced the fictional Orange Film Funding Board with adverts in which the characters now run a film studio, remaking classic films with incongruous mobile phone references inserted.
In April 2010, Gold Spots featuring specific forthcoming films replaced the Orange Film Funding Board parodies. The new adverts, promoting specific movies released by 20th Century Fox
, feature the stars of the movie filming scenes in-character of crassly incongruous Orange product placement, before breaking character to complain. The first advert featured the cast of The A-Team
, followed by a spot starring Jack Black in Gulliver's Travels
, followed by a spot Jesse Eisenberg
and Anne Hathaway
in Rio, followed by a spot in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
.
In addition to this Orange has offered "Orange Wednesdays" since 2003. This enables any Orange customer be they pay as you go, pay monthly or an internet customer able to apply for 2 for 1 cinema tickets at participating cinemas, by text message. This was a result of Orange attempting to increase cinema visits during the quiet weekly periods. The Orange Wednesdays promotion also allows Orange customers a 2 for 1 main courses with complimentary appetizers at PizzaExpress restaurants. Both the cinema ticket and meal offers require only a text ticket from Orange, which is entered at point of purchase.
.
Orange UK has also shown a commitment to music which has included partnering with the Glastonbury Festival
to provide mobile charging facilities and offers a music bursary.
Orange also has many other lucrative partnerships through its parent company France Télécom
to promote the Orange brand throughout the world.
Since July 2008 "I am"' has become the main slogan, shortened from "I am who I am because of everyone", however subsidiary slogans will be used to describe the company's products and services, for example "I am more focus, less fuzz" is used to describe the Samsung Soul handset.
Mobile network operator
A mobile network operator , also known as mobile phone operator , carrier service provider , wireless service provider, wireless carrier, or cellular company, or mobile network carrier is a telephone company that provides services for mobile phone subscribers.One essential...
and internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, which launched in 1994. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
FTSE 100 Index
The FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....
but was purchased by France Télécom
France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
in 2000, which then adopted the Orange brand for all its other mobile communications activities. Orange UK has since merged with Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG is a telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is the largest telecommunications company in Europe....
's T Mobile UK
T-Mobile (UK)
T-Mobile UK is a mobile network and mobile broadband operator in the United Kingdom. It is owned and operated by Everything Everywhere, the UK's largest mobile network.- Company history :...
to form a joint venture, Everything Everywhere
Everything Everywhere
Everything Everywhere Limited is a mobile network operator and internet service provider company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest mobile network operator in the UK, with around 28 million customers...
. Orange UK has over 17 million customers through its mobile and broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
services.
History
Microtel Communications Ltd. was formed in April 1990 as a consortium comprising Pactel Corporation, British AerospaceBritish Aerospace
British Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...
, Millicom
Millicom
Millicom International Cellular, also known as Tigo, is a mobile phone network provider in America and Africa. Based in Luxembourg, the company provides mobile services in 14 countries. With operations across Central America, South America, South-east Asia, and Africa, using GSM, CDMA and TDMA on...
and French company Matra
Matra
Mécanique Aviation Traction or Matra was a French company covering a wide range of activities mainly related to automobile, bicycles, aeronautics and weaponry. In 1994, it became a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group and now operates under that name.Matra was owned by the Floirat family...
(British Aerospace soon acquired full control of the company). In 1991 Microtel was awarded a license to develop a mobile network in the UK, and in July 1991 Hutchison Telecommunications (UK) Ltd acquired Microtel from BAe. BAe was paid in Hutchison Telecommunications (UK) Ltd. shares, giving the company a 30% share. Hutchison Whampoa held 65% and Barclays Bank the remaining 5%. Microtel was renamed Orange Personal Communications Services Ltd. in 1994. The Orange brand, at the time an unusual name for a telecommunications firm, was created by an internal team at Microtel headed by Chris Moss (Marketing Director) and supported by Martin Keogh, Rob Furness and Ian Pond. The brand consultancy Wolff Olins
Wolff Olins
Wolff Olins is a brand consultancy, based in London, New York City and Dubai. It employs 150 designers, strategists and account managers, and has been part of the Omnicom Group since 2001.-History:...
was charged with designing the brand values and logo and advertising agency WCRS created the Orange slogan "The future's bright, the future's Orange". The Orange 1800-MHz GSM network was launched on 28 April 1994. Orange plc was formed in 1995 as a holding company for the Orange group.
The company was bought by Mannesmann AG in October 1999. Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
subsequently acquired Mannesman in February 2000 and, not being allowed to hold two mobile telephone licences in the UK, decided to sell Orange UK to France Télécom
France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
in May 2000.
France Télécom subsequently rebranded all its mobile telecommunications as Orange. The company was initially 100% owned by France Telecom (although there were and still remain minority investors in some of the national operating companies). In 2001 15% was sold in an IPO
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
, but in 2003 the outstanding shares were bought back by France Telecom.
Merger with T-Mobile UK
On September 8, 2009 France TelecomFrance Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
's Orange and T-Mobile
T-Mobile (UK)
T-Mobile UK is a mobile network and mobile broadband operator in the United Kingdom. It is owned and operated by Everything Everywhere, the UK's largest mobile network.- Company history :...
parent Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG is a telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is the largest telecommunications company in Europe....
announced they were in advanced talks to merge their UK operations to create the largest mobile operator with 37% of the market. The long-term future of either brand is unclear though both would be retained for the first eighteen months at least.
Consumer Focus
Consumer Focus
Consumer Focus is a statutory consumer organisation in England, Wales, Scotland, and, for postal services, Northern Ireland, formed in 2008 by the merging Postwatch, Energywatch and the Welsh, Scottish and National Consumer Councils...
and the Communications Consumer Panel sent a joint letter to the then Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes
Neelie Kroes
Neelie Kroes is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . She served as a Member of the House of Representatives from 3 August 1971 until 28 December 1977 when she became State Secretary for Transport, Public Works and Water Management from 28 December 1977 until 11...
in December 2009 asking for the merger to be investigated by authorities in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, rather than Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. The British Office of Fair Trading
Office of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading is a not-for-profit and non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforces both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the UK's economic regulator...
joined this call by asking the EU to allow it to investigate the proposed deal in February 2010, saying that it believed the merger could have a 'significant' effect on competition.
On 1 March 2010 the European Commission approved the merger, on the condition that the combined company sell 25% of the spectrum it owns on the 1800 MHz radio band and amend a network sharing agreement with smaller rival 3
Hutchison 3G
3 is a brand name under which several UMTS-based mobile phone networks and Broadband Internet Providers are operated in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom...
.
On 1 April 2010 Deutsche Telekom and France Telekom finalised the deal and completed the merger of their UK based operations, causing Orange UK and T-Mobile UK to cease to exist, although the brands will be maintained for at least 18 months.
On 11 May 2010 it was announced that both the Orange and T-Mobile brands will remain on British high streets, although their new merged parent company will be called Everything Everywhere
Everything Everywhere
Everything Everywhere Limited is a mobile network operator and internet service provider company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest mobile network operator in the UK, with around 28 million customers...
.
Services
Orange UK currently offers two mobile phone packages; pay as you go and pay monthlyPostpaid mobile phone
The post-paid mobile phone is a mobile phone for which service is provided by a prior arrangement with a carriage service provider . The user in this situation is billed after the fact according to their use of mobile services at the end of each month...
service plans.
As with other prepaid plans, pay as you go mobile users are given the option to top-up their phone via a swipe card, over the internet, by voucher bought printed as a receipt from a till or via a credit or debit card.
The pay monthly service gives customers an option of 1, 12, 18 or 24 month contracts. The contracts come 'bundled' with minutes, text messages and within some contracts data and insurance services; additional charges can be incurred for Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS) and Mobile Data services. The 18 and 24 month contracts usually come bundled with a free phone, whereas the 30 day and 12 month plans tend to be 'SIM Only' i.e. the customer provides their own phone. SIM Only plans usually have more minutes and texts than their full phone contract equivalent, as there is no phone cost to factor in.
Orange UK operates a GPRS, EDGE
Edge
- Aviation :* Leading edge, a line connecting the forward-most points of a wing's profile* Trailing edge, the rear edge of the wing* Zivko Edge 540, an aerobatic aircraft- Mathematics, science and technology :...
and 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
service and is in the process of rolling out a HSDPA network. Orange's 2G
2G
2G is short for second-generation wireless telephone technology. Second generation 2G cellular telecom networks were commercially launched on the GSM standard in Finland by Radiolinja in 1991...
network covers 99% of the UK population and has the largest integrated 3G/2.5G network in the UK, Orange claimed in 2008 it spent up to £1.5 million per day investing in its network. In 2009, Orange UK decided to outsource its mobile network. Therefore, in March 2009, Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Siemens Networks is a global data networking and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Espoo, Finland. It is a joint venture between Nokia of Finland and Siemens of Germany...
was chosen to manage, plan, expand, optimise and provide maintenance services for the Orange UK 2G/3G mobile network for the next five years.
In addition to this Orange UK provides DSL services, under the same brand. Originally operated as Freeserve in the UK it was bought-out by France Telecom
France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
, rebranded as Wanadoo and on 1 June 2006 Wanadoo was rebranded Orange. When Orange launched its DSL broadband service it offered it for 'free', joining TalkTalk in the foray for market share. The company has attempted to converge its mobile and DSL broadband products and like its competitors offers DSL broadband services alongside its mobile services, at a subsidized rate (up to £15 off full price per month for Orange mobile customers in an Orange Broadband network area - the prices quoted in Orange publications include these discounts). Orange now offers 'triple-play' services converging mobile, landline and DSL broadband. Orange UK on its highest broadband service used to offer a Livebox which integrates VoIP technology as well as WiFi
WIFI
WIFI is a radio station broadcasting a brokered format. Licensed to Florence, New Jersey, USA, the station is currently operated by Florence Broadcasting Partners, LLC.This station was previously owned by Real Life Broadcasting...
, but in more recent times, this has router has been replaced by a Netgear
Netgear
Netgear is a U.S. manufacturer of computer networking equipment and other computer hardware....
router. It has been confirmed that Orange intends to launch a video on demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
service through its DSL broadband service.
Price plans
In April 2006 Orange changed its contract offering by offering four packages to customers, each aimed at different lifestyles and differentiating its offering. Amid much amusement Orange changed the names of its packages to animals: Dolphin, Canary, Racoon and Panther. On some plans there are unlimited minutes (to landlines or Orange UK mobiles), texts or data. In addition to this Orange offers dedicated business plans- Solo and Sense (a sharer plan). Orange also offers 'magic numbers'- unlimited free calls to other Orange UK mobiles on contract or "talk for an hour, pay for a minute" on PAYG (you will have to add it as your "magic number").Later in April 2008 Orange extended its animals to Pay as you go customers, introducing Dolphin, Raccoon, Canary, Camel and Monkey. Dolphin, Monkey and Canary offer bonuses, whilst Raccoon is a discounted call rate and Camel is for a call-abroad tariff giving discounted calls to foreign countries.
Orange, like other mobile networks, offers an "Internet Everywhere" tariff on pay as you go, pay monthly and business plans. The tariffs names for pay monthly were aligned with the animals theme in May 2010 and Orange now offers both Dolphin and Racoon plans for internet use available on both 1 month and 12 month contracts. In August 2011, the price plans were revised, and names changed to Small, Medium, and Large. Similar to with home broadband, Orange mobile customers receive a £5 discount on their mobile broadband plan. The business plans remained as "Business Everywhere". The 12 month plans come with a USB modem (or dongle) for free. The customer is required to pay a small price for the dongle on the 1 month plans. A portable WiFi dongle can also be purchased, dubbed "Mobile WiFi". The service operates across the network's EDGE
Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution
Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution is a digital mobile phone technology that allows improved data transmission rates as a backward-compatible extension of GSM...
, 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
, HSDPA and HSUPA network and offers speeds of up to 3.6 Mbit/s. Orange announced in June 2008 that this speed would be increased to 7.2Mbit/s in the top 30 UK cities and 14.4 Mbit/s in the top 5 cities.
Orange shops
Orange, like its competitors, operates a retail estate, with over 300 stores. These are branded as "The Orange Shop" and operate as an indirect sales channel. Orange also has some concession stores in HMVHMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
branches across the UK.
Contracts and pay as you go phones with Orange are also available from other retailers, such as Carphone Warehouse, Phones4u, Argos
Argos (retailer)
Argos is the largest general-goods retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland with over 800 stores. It is unique amongst major retailers in the UK in that it is a catalogue merchant...
and smaller independent mobile phone dealers, operating either in physical retail, online, through call centres or even supermarkets.
Orange were the first British mobile phone network whose products could be bought online, from the UK's first online mobile phone dealer Mobiles.co.uk.
Orange Gold Spots
At most cinemas across the UK, advertisements for Orange are shown directly before the film, after the other adverts and film trailers. These ads are officially known as "Orange Gold Spots". The adverts feature short sketches involving various celebrities including; Rob LoweRob Lowe
Robert Hepler "Rob" Lowe is an American actor. Lowe came to prominence after appearing in films such as The Outsiders, Oxford Blues, About Last Night..., St. Elmo's Fire, and Wayne's World. On television, Lowe is known for his role as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing and his role as Senator Robert...
, Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
, Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Carson Culkin is an American actor. He became widely known for his portrayal of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. He is also known for his roles in Richie Rich, Uncle Buck, My Girl, The Pagemaster, and Party Monster...
, Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...
, Mena Suvari
Mena Suvari
Mena Alexandra Suvari is an American actress, fashion designer, and model. Shortly after beginning her career as a model, she appeared in guest roles on 1990's television shows such as Boy Meets World and High Incident...
, Michael Madsen
Michael Madsen
Michael Søren Madsen is an American actor, poet, and photographer. He has appeared in more than 150 films, most of them small independent films, though he has starred in central roles in such films as Reservoir Dogs, Free Willy, Donnie Brasco, and Kill Bill, in addition to a supporting role in Sin...
, Steven Seagal
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal is an American action film star, producer, writer, martial artist, guitarist and reserve deputy sheriff. A 7th-dan black belt in Aikido, Seagal began his adult life as an Aikido instructor in Japan...
, Sean Astin
Sean Astin
Sean Astin is an American film actor, director, voice artist, and producer better known for his film roles as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, the title character of Rudy, and Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In television, he appeared as Lynn McGill in the fifth season of 24...
, Patrick Swayze
Patrick Swayze
Patrick Wayne Swayze was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best known for his tough-guy roles, as romantic leading men in the hit films Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was named by People magazine as its "Sexiest...
, Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher
Carrie Frances Fisher is an American actress, novelist, screenwriter, and lecturer. She is most famous for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, her bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge, for which she wrote the screenplay to the film of the same name, and her...
, Roy Scheider
Roy Scheider
Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
, Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
, John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
, Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
, Jack Black
Jack Black
Jack Black , is an American actor and musician, notably of Tenacious D.Jack Black may also refer to:* Jack Black , late 19th - early 20th Century author and hobo* Jack Black , drummer for 1970s UK punk band The Boys...
, Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming, OBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actor, singer, writer, director, producer and author. His roles have included the Emcee in Cabaret, Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, Mr. Elton in Emma, and Fegan Floop in the Spy Kids trilogy...
, Verne Troyer
Verne Troyer
Verne J. Troyer is an American stand-up comedian, actor, stuntman and performer, best known for playing Mini-Me in the Austin Powers series...
, Daryl Hannah
Daryl Hannah
Daryl Christine Hannah is an American film actress. After making her screen debut in 1978, Hannah starred in a number of Hollywood films throughout the 1980s, notably Blade Runner, Splash, Wall Street and Roxanne and Kill Bill.-Early life:Hannah was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Susan...
, Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
, Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
, Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
, Emilio Estevez
Emilio Estevez
Emilio Estevez is an American actor, film director, and writer. He started his career as an actor and is well-known for being a member of the acting Brat Pack of the 1980s, starring in The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire...
, Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis is an American actress and musician. She gained international fame for her role in the 1991 thriller Cape Fear for which she was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress...
, Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...
and Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
, The A-Team
The A-Team
The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
. Throughout the sketch, a pair of fictional Orange executives, played by Brennan Brown
Brennan Brown
Brennan Brown is an American actor, perhaps best known for playing Orange's spoof film board executive Mr. Dresden in the long-running series of UK cinema ads.-Orange Wednesday adverts:...
and Steve Furst
Steve Furst
Steven Larry Furst is a comedian, actor and writer. Furst says his father told him that he arrived as an immigrant from Hungary with "nothing but a violin under my arm"...
, manipulate an idea into film which promotes Orange through product placement
Product placement
Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the...
, despite the product being completely 'out-of-place' (a mobile phone in a Western Film
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
is one example); the catch line is "Don't let a mobile phone ruin your movie. Please switch it off." After five years, Orange changed advertising agencies and replaced the fictional Orange Film Funding Board with adverts in which the characters now run a film studio, remaking classic films with incongruous mobile phone references inserted.
In April 2010, Gold Spots featuring specific forthcoming films replaced the Orange Film Funding Board parodies. The new adverts, promoting specific movies released by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, feature the stars of the movie filming scenes in-character of crassly incongruous Orange product placement, before breaking character to complain. The first advert featured the cast of The A-Team
The A-Team
The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
, followed by a spot starring Jack Black in Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships, better known simply as Gulliver's Travels , is a novel by Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of...
, followed by a spot Jesse Eisenberg
Jesse Eisenberg
Jesse Adam Eisenberg is an American actor. He made his screen debut with the comedy-drama television series Get Real from 1999 to 2000...
and Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway (actress)
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
in Rio, followed by a spot in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules is a realistic fiction novel by Jeff Kinney. It is the second book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series released on February 1, 2008, and a film of the same name released March 25, 2011...
.
In addition to this Orange has offered "Orange Wednesdays" since 2003. This enables any Orange customer be they pay as you go, pay monthly or an internet customer able to apply for 2 for 1 cinema tickets at participating cinemas, by text message. This was a result of Orange attempting to increase cinema visits during the quiet weekly periods. The Orange Wednesdays promotion also allows Orange customers a 2 for 1 main courses with complimentary appetizers at PizzaExpress restaurants. Both the cinema ticket and meal offers require only a text ticket from Orange, which is entered at point of purchase.
Sponsorship
In spirit with Orange's commitment to cinema Orange sponsors the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards which includes an award in its own name- the Orange Rising Star AwardRising Star Award
Rising Star Award may refer to:*AFL Rising Star award*Rising Star Award, BAFTA...
.
Orange UK has also shown a commitment to music which has included partnering with the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
to provide mobile charging facilities and offers a music bursary.
Orange also has many other lucrative partnerships through its parent company France Télécom
France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
to promote the Orange brand throughout the world.
Slogans
Orange's previous slogan, "The future's bright – the future's Orange" was used for many years and became extremely well known, so much so that in its later years the second half of the slogan tended to be dropped as unnecessary.Since July 2008 "I am"' has become the main slogan, shortened from "I am who I am because of everyone", however subsidiary slogans will be used to describe the company's products and services, for example "I am more focus, less fuzz" is used to describe the Samsung Soul handset.