Category: Best use or integration of user-generated content
Advertiser: PLDT
Product/Service: MYDSL INTERNET
Agency: ACE SAATCHI & SAATCHI
Executive Creative Director: Andrew Petch (Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Manila)
Creative Director: Greg Martin (Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Manila)
Creative Director: Trixie Diyco (Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Manila)
Assistant Creative Director/Copywriter: Paw Berroya (Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Manila)
Assistant Creative Director/Copywriter: Jordan Santos (Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Manila)
Art Director: Hans Malang (Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Manila)
Accounts: Gigi Garcia (Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Manila)
Accounts: April Landicho (Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Manila)
Accounts: Claire Cruz (Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Manila)
Planner: Carmen Antunez (Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Manila)
Planner: Natalie Ang (Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Manila)
Producer: Jun Gara (Filmex)
Director: Henry Frejas (Filmex)
Cinematographer: Dindo Martinez (Filmex)
Editor: Wacky Tirona (Optima)
Art Director: Windel Aboy
Art Director: Glenn Lalogan
Copywriter: Petra Magno
Final Artist: Robert Achas
Print Producer: Dennis Obien
Media placement: TV CAMPAIGN - TV CHANNELS, ONLINE, CINEMA - FEBRUARY 11, 2012
Campaign Description
In the Philippines, we have no restrictions on branded content. PLDT myDSL was, however, restricted from airing on the country's 2 leading television channels since 2010. To make up for our lack of TV presence, we looked to branded online content. Anna Banana campaign for PLDT myDSL was 1 of the biggest campaigns in the Philippines for 2012. It started with an online branded content launch and a traditional media reveal. The Philippines is in its infancy when it comes to branded content and this campaign was a breakthrough for branded content in this country. The results speak for themselves. 1.8m hits on YouTube in less than 5 weeks. P2.1m in free media during the campaign period. The branded content online and on air resulted in 62% awareness, the highest for any PLDT retail brand in recent history.
Effectiveness
PLDT myDSL, the country’s biggest residential internet service, wanted to convey that their strong internet connection could create strong emotional connections at home. Thus, the strongest connections are at home.
We brought this connection to life by creating a fictitious boy, who we named ‘Derek S. Lorenzo’ and created his fictitious ultra-supportive mom, ‘Mama Berns’.
We started by uploading a YouTube video of Derek S. Lorenzo singing an original song entitled Anna Banana for his crush. He performed it terribly making it, literally, a video only a mother can love.
His fictitious mom drummed up support for the video through her blog, twitter feeds, comments on forums and cold calls on radio talk shows, asking everyone to check out her fictitious son’s video.
We then did a reveal with a 60-second TV spot showing the Mom watching the Anna Banana video repeatedly to rack up its hits. The TVC ends with Derek celebrating his hundred hits and the mom feigning surprise.
Derek S. Lorenzo and his mom also showed up in our print, radio, billboards, streamers, flyers, digital banner ads and Facebook ads. All materials drove viewers to the ‘annabananaDSL’ YouTube channel, now re-skinned to become a branded PLDT myDSL channel. This revealed to the public that the DSL in annabananaDSL were not only the initials of Derek S. Lorenzo, but also stood for PLDT myDSL.
To sustain interest in the channel as well as encourage users to put up their own videos, we created user-generated videos, or rather, us-generated videos. The entire channel led people to the PLDT myDSL website.
The public refused to believe that Derek S. Lorenzo and his fictitious mom were not real people and after almost 2m combined views later, the debate on whether they’re real or not still continues.
Implementation
Initially, the audience was driven to content through a fictitious mother who drummed up support for the video through her blog, twitter feeds, comments in various forums and cold calls to radio shows. After launching with a 60-second TV and cinema ad, we drove consumers to site through print ads, PR articles, out-of-home materials, radio ads, Facebook ads, celebrity tweets and online digital banners.
Outcome
Anna Banana is probably the most viewed branded video in the Philippines. It was featured by TV Patrol as the most watched video in the country in February and trending in twitter in mid-February. It has over 30 copycat videos with almost 2m combined views. It’s been reposted by other YouTube users, shared across blogs and Facebook, and mentioned in user and celebrity tweets, catching 667,990 eyeballs. It’s been talked about in radio shows as well as featured in TV news, broadsheets and magazines, giving us an estimated P2.1m in free media. During the campaign, the PLDT myDSL website got a 30% increase in total visits. 200% increase in applications versus previous quarter. 30% revenue increase for PLDT myDSL versus same time previous year. Post-launch tests showed that 93% of respondents now find the brand more appealing and 83% say that it is better than other internet services. The campaign gave us 62% awareness after 4 weeks - the highest rate of advertising awareness for any PLDT retail brand since 2010. Not bad for a video that only a mother can love.