Vodafone: START SOMETHING NEW, 1

Credits & Description:

Advertiser: VODAFONE
Agency: OMD INTERNATIONAL
Category: Best Use of Special Events and Stunt/Live Advertising
Advertising campaign: START SOMETHING NEW
Managing Director: Cris Cicirello (Ignite)
Principal Brand Operations Manager: Noreen Boyhan (Vodafone Group)
Account Manager: Peter Wood (Fuse International)
Global Sponsorship Manager: Tessa Tierney (Vodafone Group)
Senior Brand Pr Manager: Katalin Kovacs (Vodafone Hungary)
Account Manager: Shelley Mcgrath (Fuse International)

Effectiveness
REACHING BEYOND F1 FANS: - 2.1M (20% of Hungarian population) viewed live state TV broadcast (vs. 1.3M Hungarian GP viewing i.e. attracting more interest vs. F1 race weekend).- 52% of Hungarian consumers aware of the event.- Age profile spread across 18-45 years (vs.typical F1 audience= 35-55). 69% festival attendees were target segments.- High participation: 125,000 footfall through experiential activities. - 308,000 Facebook impressions from RFID registrations. HIGH BRAND ATTRIBUTION COMPARED TO McLAREN- 90% attribution of the event to Vodafone. POSITIVE IMPACT ON BRAND METRICS: - 95% viewed Vodafone more positively as a result.- 42% of non-customers saw Vodafone as more appealing.

Execution
THE FESTIVAL WAS AMBITIOUS: We transformed 315,000 sq. m of downtown Budapest into a festival, equivalent to 45 football pitches.VMM represented the pinnacle of ‘Start Something New’ as F1 World Champion Jenson Button raced through the streets of Budapest.Around this, consumers were invited to start something new by taking part in a range of challenges linked to their passions, including learning to DJ, cook new dishes, improving art skills etc. Throughout, Vodafone used its new network to bring the experiences to life, allowing consumers to post what they started to social media and follow events thanks to great quality coverage of the festival direct to peoples’ mobiles.Communications around the event lasted for a total of 7 weeks, with extensive pre and post promotion to invite, excite and inspire. During the event weekend the communications focused on amplifying and celebrating the event in real-time using RFID.

Strategy
EXPERIENCES AT THE HEART Vodafone identified a problem in Hungary; significant erosion in perceived service quality was impacting on brand attitudes and growth among key segments; High End Achievers, Connected Mainstream and Digital Enthusiasts.To address this, Vodafone made major structural investments, creating a ‘super-fast’ Hungarian network. Marketing needed to quickly create a step-change in attitudes and ‘new start’ for Vodafone. The communications challenge was set: ‘how to leverage Vodafone’s global McLaren F1 partnership; traditionally an F1-fan focused branding platform- to achieve this local goal? Bringing together the team, aspirational nature of the audience segments and Vodafone’s pioneering mobile network development, one underlying human truth emerged: Within all of us there’s a deep seated desire to break new ground and ‘start something new’.We put experience, not advertising at the heart of the network launch, creating something totally new: a huge takeover of Budapest with Vodafone’s ‘Start Something New’ Festival