T-Mobile: NIGHT IN

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Use of Live Events, Stunts and or Celebrity Endorsement

Advertiser: T-MOBILE

Product/Service: BRAND AWARENESS

Director: Alex Williams (Brands2Life)

Associate Director: Claire Chubb (Brand2Life)

Associate Director: Jonny Lockwood (Brand2Life)

Director: Joe Thomas (Brands2Life)

Senior Account Manager: Josh Turner (Brands2Life)

Account Manager: Sally Brown (Brands2Life)

Media placement: Broadcast alert - Coverage included: Studio 5 Live, ITN On, Capital FM - 26.05.10

Media placement: Photocall alert - Coverage/ attendance included: Getty Images, Capital Pictures, AP Images, Rex Fe - 26.05.10

Media placement: Regional radio release - Coverage included: Heart FM, Kiss, Real Radio - 26.05.10

Media placement: Listings press release - Coverage included: Spoonfed Blog, View London.co.uk, All in London.co.uk, Whats - 26.05.10

Media placement: Announcement press release - Coverage included: Mail Online, Daily Mirror 3am, Metro, Daily Star - 27.05.10

Media placement: Images from event - Coverage included: Daily Mirror, Telegraph.co.uk, The Guardian, Mail online - 02.06.10

Media placement: News snippets from event - Coverage included: Star Magazine, Now Magazine, GM.tv, Heatworld - 02.06.10

Media placement: Press releases, listings releases and images - Issued for regional events in appropriate regional media - June-July



Summary of the Campaign

How do you launch T-Mobile’s new movie and game rental customer loyalty offer, Night In, and super-charge auditions for the accompanying user-generated advertising campaign? You think big with a super-sized pink sofa.



The giant sofa formed the centrepiece of a campaign that continued T-Mobile’s reputation for ambitious, audacious events done on a large scale that brought high profile locations to a standstill, which it developed through its iconic Liverpool Street Station 'Dance' and Trafalgar Square 'Sing' campaigns.



The Big Sofa campaign delivered a nine-fold increase in auditions to take part in Night In ads on T-Mobile’s YouTube channel, drove widespread awareness of Night In via 103 pieces of quality, on-message media coverage and three high profile events (equating to a total OTS of 193 million), and helped get over 200,000 people to take up the Night In offer during the campaign period.



The Situation

In May 2010, UK mobile network, T-Mobile launched its new customer loyalty initiative, Night In – a movie and game rental offer with Blockbuster Night In was designed to tackle customer churn and provide rewards to rival competitor schemes like 02 Priority and Orange Wednesdays.



The accompanying ad campaign featured T-Mobile customers inviting their friends over for a night in, and encouraged customers to submit videos via T-Mobile’s YouTube channel to audition for the chance to appear in the campaign.



With the initial ads slow to generate the desperately needed user generated content, PR was tasked with driving auditions.



The Goal

The brief for PR was threefold:

1. Drive widespread awareness amongst consumers for Night In

2. Encourage auditions from T-Mobile’s customers for the accompanying advertising campaign

3. Motivate T-Mobile customers to redeem the Night In offer



There were multiple messages to communicate:

• The details of the Night In offer – T-Mobile customers can get five things – two movies, a game and a movie plus three snacks – for £5 from Blockbuster

• The ad concept – T-Mobile customers can star in the company’s latest TV ad

• How to get involved – film an invitation to a night in and upload to YouTube



The Strategy

In order to deliver the campaign’s multiple, complex messages to a mass consumer audience, a simple vehicle was needed. At the heart of our campaign idea was the item that’s inextricably linked to a night in with a DVD or video game: a sofa. But the sofa we created was no ordinary piece of furniture. A giant settee in T-Mobile pink – almost as big as a double-decker bus – was commissioned to be the centrepiece of a series of experiential events, and to deliver on a number of levels:

• An attention-grabbing device to give media a picture story

• A spectacle to create buzz and interest

• An engagement mechanic whereby people could climb aboard and film an audition for the advert



Execution

We tracked down the prop company behind Doctor Who to build a sofa measuring 7 metres wide by 5 metres high which was erected in key footfall areas in London, Birmingham and Leeds.



The campaign was kicked off with a one day event in London’s Covent Garden which saw girl group of the moment, The Saturdays, climb on the colossal couch for a photocall attended by over 30 photographers. Regionally, a local celebrity was recruited to scale the sofa for a photocall.



The sofa was teased on Facebook with images posted of the sofa in various stages of construction. At each stage of the tour, the sofa was pre-publicised on local events websites and via T-Mobile’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube venues. And those who came along to the Big Sofa events were encouraged to go to Facebook and YouTube after the event to see images and of course view their audition.



Documented Results



Awareness

• 103 pieces of coverage were generated, with 193 million opportunities to see

• Coverage highlights included the Daily Mirror, Daily Star, The Guardian, Mail Online, and Telegraph Online, broadcast coverage on Capital FM, Heart FM, Live at Studio Five and Living TV, and lifestyle coverage included OK!, Star, Now and Heat



Auditions

• 150 auditions were filmed on the sofa, generating a nine fold increase (compared to just 16 entries before the campaign)



Redemption

• Redemption reached its peak for the first three months during the week of the Covent Garden event

• 220,000 people redeemed the offer during the campaign period



Messages

• The campaign messages were strong – for example, the Mail Online piece featured six T-Mobile Night In mentions – including the headline

• The sofa’s distinctive T-Mobile’s magenta colour delivered visual branding across all coverage.



The campaign delivered a return on investment of 102% for T-Mobile