By Nick Sunderland

Walking through the Singaporean style Elizabeth line the other day, I spotted a new advert for O2.

Here it is.

In 2002 I was part of the team at the branding agency Lambie-Nairn that transformed BT Cellnet into O2. Oxygen was a simple metaphor for being essential for life (you can’t live without your mobile phone) and the brand name O2 worked in every language thanks to the international nature of scientific nomenclature. And how do you visualise oxygen? You photograph it in water (obviously), which brings in all the wonderful emotions of refreshment, baptism and renewal.

A powerfully simple, distinctive and eye-catching brand was born. And over twenty years later the brand is still going strong. Yes, it’s had some wobbly moments of consistency over the years but even the best brands can lose their mojo every now and again.

What set O2 up for such longevity and success was a real sense of long-range thinking – wanting to build a brand for the next fifty years not just the next fiscal. Having a clear vision for what you stand for in the world, a strong identity and a team of people who understood the importance of consistency at every touchpoint and the power of not erring from your true path.

And did it work? Well, O2’s competition had to spend twice the advertising budget to get the same results. And when O2 was sold to Telefonica just four years later, the balance sheet value of the brand alone was estimated at £9.5bn.

Someone once told me, if you want to drive well, keep your eye on the end of the road, not the end of your bonnet. I think it’s great advice for brand building too.

This new advert (bar the odd blue robot and a squint of the eyes) could almost have been Summer 2002.