Vodafone: WHO KILLED SUMMER?

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Use of Social Media Marketing

Advertiser: VODAFONE GROUP

Product/Service: VODAFONE MUSIC

Date of First Appearance: Jul 9 2009 12:00AM

Entrant Company: OMD INTERNATIONAL, London, UNITED KINGDOM

Entry URL: http://www.wks09.com

Account Director: Kristie Bradley (OMD International)

Account Manager: Tim Connew (OMD International)

Managing Director: Tom Thirwall (MWorks / BigBalls Films)

: Gavin Rowe (BigBalls Films)

: Greg James (Cake Group)

Head of New Media & Branded Content: Charlie Carrington (Vodafone Group)

Branded Entertainment Manager: Joy Campbell (Vodafone Group)

Chief Executive Officer/Founder: Magnus Jern (Golden Gekko)

Media placement: Viral Video Seeding - 1,250,000 Views - GoViral Network - Music And Festival Blogs - 9th July

Media placement: Engagement Fan Ads - 13,571,432 - Facebook - 9th July

Media placement: Standard Fan Ads - 60,000,000 - Facebook - 9th July

Media placement: Homepage Takeover And MPU - Last.fm - 24th July

Media placement: Targeted Video Views 250,000 - Daily Motion - 23rd July

Media placement: Targeted Video MPUs 13,000,000 - YouTube - Music Search Results - 24th July

Media placement: Influencer Outreach - Promotion Integration On Vice Facebook, MySpace And Twitte - Vice Social Media Profiles - 20th August

Media placement: Full Page Magazine Ad - 1 insertion - Vice Magazine - 4th September



Results and Effectiveness

The campaign spread over 500 music and festival websites and blogs, with more than 5m views, 25,000 dedicated fans on Facebook and over 700,000 downloading and using the mobile application.

With our target Brand Progressives we saw huge success. 62% increase of consumers’ preference to be with Vodafone, and 29% believing the brand provides them with content worth sharing.

While loyalty and advocacy was key, gaining new consumers was also critical, 41% of non-users who interacted with the content more likely to consider Vodafone in the future and 81% believing that Vodafone was the most innovative mobile brand in Music.



Creative Execution

WKS09? was a multi-platform scripted drama set against the backdrop of the European festival season. In a murder mystery for the connected generation, our six ‘contestants’ embarked on the summer road trip of their lives. The twist at the end was that one died and one was a killer.

Social Media was at the heart of WKS09? intertwined within the plot, consumers had to not just guess who the murderer was, but co-create the action and become part of a fully-immersive experience.

We leveraged the best of social media, using viral video seeding, influencer engagement, targeted social ads and social applications to create buzz, distribute content and generate a fan base for the show. To obliterate the line between brand communication and consumer conversations, we had to live and evolve in the very platforms and channels where the fictional and real characters create and share their own friendships and experiences.



Insights, Strategy & the Idea



Vodafone is an instantly recognised global brand for superior performance, reliability of service and quality of product.

Vodafone needed to engage and excite its younger audience, Brand Progressives, an audience that isn’t just mobile in their lifestyle but a high-value audience due to high levels of telephony and data usage. They are an allusive audience, difficult to reach through traditional media channels, who find their fix through communities and networks, discovering and sharing content. Vodafone needed to drive new values to this audience, connecting with them through their passion for music and engaging with them on their terms.

Who Killed Summer? (WKS09?) was a powerful and involving entertainment experience designed to create strong emotional connectivity with Vodafone. It gave consumers more and more reasons to interact with the brand and giving them unprecedented control of the communications and entertainment that would drive advocacy, loyalty and consumer generated conversations about the brand.