Back in June this year Compare Broadband reviewed Optus’ rebranding campaign. The campaign drastically changed the feel and look of Optus, creating a warmer and friendlier face for the company. Optus ditched it’s old logo with classic lettering for a new fun logo that incorporated a hand lettered “Yes” in a speech bubble. The new logo was accompanied by “Ollie”, an anthropomorphic speech bubble, who made a “Declarations of Yes”: a pledge to improve Optus’ services, from network capabilities, mobile phone plan structures to the way customers feel about the Optus brand.

Five months after revealing their new logo and rolling out the new brand, Optus have now also revamped their website.  The website engages with current contemporary web design aesthetics. White space is expertly used to present the web information in a clear and easy to read manner, whilst graphics are kept clean and minimal.

The new webpage makes expert use of the Optus colour palate; the Optus teal green comes in strong to frame important sections, headings and icons; while the Optus yellow is used a bare minimum to accent certain areas of the page. Colour is used in a flat, bold manner, again right on trend with what is happening in the field of web design.

The redesign has been long overdue. The design has taken Optus’ old website, which was outdated and filled with an overwhelming amount of information, and stripped in down in way that is clear, concise and aesthetically pleasing. With this new web design strategy Optus is definitely proving that they are still relevant in the market and that they have a keen attention to how they present important information to their customers and the public.

The dramatic change really captures the new mood Optus is in. Earlier this year Optus found that over 50 per cent of their customers in the last year had experienced some form of bill shock. Optus addressed this by completely restructuring the way they delivered their products, especially their mobile phone plans. As a result Optus revealed plans that removed excess usage charges and instead moved customers temporarily up to the next tiered plan on offer.

In regards to bill shock, Optus CEO, Kevin Russell, was quoted recently saying “Data breakage and voice breakage is a shocker. The idea that your kids can do something and you end up with a $500 bill is crap. I think it's a bit immoral”. It was refreshing to hear a Chief Executive be emphatic to the hardships customers often find themselves in, but to also acknowledge the role telecommunications companies play in these situations.

To help customers feel good about the Optus brand again, they have altered their plans to better suit customer’s needs and created a new visual identity. In an interview early this month, Mr Russell declared the old Optus animals “dead” and described their image as having “grown up a bit”.