The telco is facing relegation in the market thanks to Telstra's continuing strength and the rise of rivals including TPG Telecom and Vodafone Hutchison Australia. The branding push will be one of the single biggest challenges faced by Optus' arch rival Telstra since its competitors started ramping up their data allowances. It remains unclear if Optus will switch its branding entirely to Yes or simply make it much more prominent. But regardless of the final strategy, it will cost the Singaporean-owned telco a substantial amount of money as it attempts to differentiate itself from rivals and justify premium prices. But others say Yes Sources said the idea of changing Optus' name to "Yes" had been considered by the company for several years with focus group and market testing getting very positive responses. The "Culture of Yes" messaging adopted internally also resonated outside the telco.

But switching names to "Yes" faced three major challenges – costs, trademark considerations and the marketing activities of other companies. A major branding push would cost tens of millions of dollars, requiring more costs savings and improved profits. Optus executives believe it is nearly impossible to exclusively trademark the word "Yes" as a name because it is such a commonly used word. Finally, a large number of companies use "Yes" as a key part of their branding campaigns. This would risk the telco's message being confused with other brands. "Yes TV" is understood to be the new media platform the company will use to release a range of media products including EPL streams and broadcasts as well as its new Fetch TV service. Optus declined to say whether it would change its brand to "Yes" but a spokeswoman said the tagline would be increasingly important.

"Optus is constantly looking at evolving the brand and 'Yes' has always been at the centre of that," she said. Apps Sources said the telco was also considering the launch of a smartphone app that would act as a hub for news and sports highlights. The service would be similar to NewsLoop, which is an app owned by Optus' parent company Singtel. Users of the app would be able to select their preferred categories and sources of content, all arranged in simple to select tiles, to help tailor their feeds. Readers who care more about celebrity news could have that type of content featured above all others, for example. This would also act as a launch pad to help sell add-on plans relating to Optus' Cricket Australia and EPL content. A sports-led push would primarily target males aged 10-39.

Football push The marketing drive is timed to coincide with the launch of its EPL services. The company agreed to buy the exclusive Australian broadcast rights for the world's most popular football competition over three years in 2015 at a cost of $63 million per season. Optus is finalising its strategy for reaching every home and business with the service, which it has pledged to deliver live and in high definition to any customer who wants it. Most of these will be delivered in partnership with the Fetch TV service, which uses an internet connection to stream Pay TV channels. It was revealed this week that Optus had approached Foxtel and Fox Sports about using their distribution to telecast EPL matches into pubs and clubs. Some of Optus' partners have expressed concern about the telco's lack of TV broadcast partnerships. Australia's broadband speeds will not be uniformly good enough to guarantee an adequate live streaming service for all homes and businesses until the national broadband network is completed.

But Optus has assured potential content providers that it can use its broadcast licence and satellite services to deliver high-quality matches to areas where broadband speeds are not good enough. Cost-cutting drive All of the changes will require Optus to invest more cash in the business. The company last week denied media reports it was planning to cut over 1000 jobs but confirmed there was an active review attempting to find more savings and efficiencies. "We are reviewing our costs and our organisation at the moment [and] that's a review that's ongoing and under way," Optus chairman Paul O'Sullivan said last week.