Having secured the rights to the planet’s most watched sport in Australia – the English Premier League – telco firm Optus is reportedly set to launch a massive marketing campaign to spruik to customers that it’s much more than just a phone and internet company.

Another initiative, reported in the Fairfax Media this morning, is that the brand has also canvassed changing its name to ‘Yes’, a tag it currently uses on much of its advertising.

If true, the marketing push would be good news for Optus’ current flotilla of agencies that include UM, UM, Big Red, WiTH Collective, M&C Saatchi and AKQA. It’s estimated that Optus already spends about $50-plus million a year on its advertising in Australia.

According to the media reports, the telco has already done group testing of a name change to ‘Yes’ and has trademarked a number of terms around the word, including ‘Yes TV’, ”Yes Crow’ and ‘WiFi Talk Yes’.

Optus is presently number two in the market but is said to be losing ground to a resurgent Telstra – particularly around sport – and a number of new aggressive and cheaper players entering the market.

As reported yesterday in B&T, Optus spent $198 million on the rights to the English Premier League over the three years. It is naturally desperate to monetise that and get customers to make the switch and take up its phone and internet services, too.

It will need to position its services as a premium brand and convince new and existing customers it’s services are worth paying extra for.