oxio Internet Proves That the Asterisk Isn’t the Enemy

Through three bright, dynamic and social first visuals, the unproblematic internet provider takes the fear away from the asterisk. Turning the symbol from something their competition hides behind into a comforting sign for current and future oxio customers to be sure their internet will always be fixed and fair. This always-on social campaign was created in partnership with global creative brand experience company, TBWA\Canada.

oxio wanted to shine a light on the way many telco’s tend to trick their prospective customers into a deal that’s clouded with hidden caveats masked by asterisks. This campaign ultimately positions themselves to challenge the ways of working in the dreaded, asterisk ridden industry.

"At oxio, we believe in keeping things simple and straightforward. When you choose us, you can count on no hidden fees, no unexpected price increase, just reliable internet and a commitment to transparency. We’re here for the long term, building trust every step of the way." said Ranya Bouthaim, brand manager at oxio.

This approach isn’t new for oxio, as they’ve long stood for a fair internet, with sneaky fine print as the common enemy alongside current and potential customers. This common ground gave oxio a way in to reframe their time-honoured pricing model to approach consumers in a language they’d understand best, and flip it on its head. Making a farce of telco category tropes of stingy offers, promotions and overused marketing tactics.

If it sounds simple, it’s because it was. Nothing about oxio’s structure was changed for the campaign, all they had to do was simply call out the traditional marketing stigmas of the competition.

“For this campaign we tapped into what consumers like most about the brand and created a proxy for what they hate about the category; hidden fees, unexpected changes, fine print...the asterisk. It’s our avatar for the category’s questionable practices, and reminds consumers what makes oxio such a compelling choice.” said Bill Chamness, VP of strategy at TBWA\Canada.

"Usually, we hate putting an asterisk and all the legal that goes with it, but in this case, we loved bringing it in as a cheeky way to sign off. It’s a simple and fair way to communicate to the consumer that this is what we’re about – that's it." said Manuel Ferrarini, VP, creative director at Tam-Tam\TBWA.

Eager to show off oxio’s chronically online and innately culturally relevant approach to social, the team at TBWA\Canada worked with oxio to leverage TBWA’s tool for cultural insights, Backslash. A 'cheat code for relevance', Backslash and their cultural triggers, ’Edges’ act as a lens to observe and analyse worldwide developments to better understand and anticipate cultural change. Leaning into the 'Gap Collapse' Edge for this campaign, the insights pulled reinforced oxio’s understanding of issues and possible solutions for the wealth gap in Canada.

oxio has connected a true sentiment across Canada, being fed up with companies taking advantage of consumers, to reinforce the stark difference between their offering and that of their competitors. Instead of walking through an asterisk minefield, oxio makes it clear they have always championed fair pricing and are taking a stand for the consumer with this campaign.

The campaign launched in late 2024 on social across Canada.