Vodafone: THE WEDDING

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Use of Special Events and Stunt/Live Advertising

Advertiser: VODAFONE

Product/Service: MOBILE BROADBAND

Agency: McCANN ERICKSON

Date of First Appearance: Apr 29 2010

Entrant Company: McCANN ERICKSON, Bucharest, ROMANIA

Entry URL: www.nuntahaihui.ro

Creative Partner: Adrian Botan (McCann Erickson)

Group Creative Director: Catalin Dobre (McCann Erickson)

Group Creative Director: Dinu Panescu (McCann Erickson)

Art Director: Ionut Cojocaru (McCann Erickson)

Group Account Director: Dana Hogea (McCann Erickson)

Account Manager: Andreea Harjanu (McCann Erickson)

Strategic Planner: Diana Ceausu (McCann Erickson)

Associate Director, Advertising Vodafone: Romina Tazlaoanu (Vodafone)

Media placement: TV Campaign - 1 Spot - Antena 1, Antena 2, Antena 3, PRO TV, Realitatea, Prima TV, Kanal D, National TV - April 29, 2010

Media placement: Print Campaign - 1 Print - Evenimentul Zilei, Adevarul, Gandul, Gazeta Spoturilor, Jurnalul National, PRO S - April 30, 2010

Media placement: Web Campaign - Www.zf.ro; Www.hotnews.ro; Www.gsp.ro - April 30, 2010

Media placement: Radio Campaign - 1 Spot - Radio ZU, Europa FM - May 6, 2010



Insights, Strategy & the Idea

VODAFONE is Romania’s biggest telecom operator and the first to introduce high-speed 3G Broadband services.



As more people use mobiles to access Internet, VODAFONE wanted to position as having 'the best data coverage in Romania', a proposition relevant to all customers, young and old, consumer and business.



To be credible, we needed to demonstrate the role of VODAFONE’s data coverage in people’s lives. Our campaign had to touch the heart and mind of every Romanian.



We looked for a familiar real event, which we could use to illustrate VODAFONE’s mobile features.



We found Florentina and Valentin, a young couple of climbing enthusiasts who wanted to get married on top of Romania’s Balea Lac Mountain – 2000 metres high and totally inaccessible for families and friends!



VODAFONE became the wedding sponsor, broadcasted the event live on the internet, giving Florentina and Valentin the best gift: the presence of their loved ones.



Creative Execution

We employed social media to tell the story extensively and make sure everyone understood that it was not just a stunt, it was a real event, a real love story, a real wedding.



Social media platforms buzzed as people checked links to find out more about the event. Florentina and Valentin used blogs, Facebook and Twitter to discuss their wedding plans. They were also interviewed by all national media, both before and after the ceremony.



The wedding was broadcasted live, with video recordings becoming Romania’s first real-life commercials and wedding photos becoming press and poster ads. We kept national interest alive for months afterwards through blogs, Facebook, Youtube and Flickr.



The VODAFONE Wedding (“VODAFONE nunta”) was so successful that we immediately launched The Honeymoon Contest, engaging fans, media and Vodafone customers in finding the perfect honeymoon location. While away, the honeymooners updated everyone via VODAFONE’s roaming mobile services!



Results and Effectiveness

Awareness of VODAFONE’s services rocketed; the extensive advertising, social media and PR activity reached over 77% per cent of Romanians – 17.7 million people who were all emotionally involved in the country’s most heart-warming love story.



The ' VODAFONE nunta' tag was searched on Google more than 1.4 million times and the TV commercial was the third most viewed in the Romanian blogosphere.



The wedding blog brought in over 7,000 unique visitors, with a massive 20,000 unique visitors accessing the honeymoon contest.



In short, ' VODAFONE nunta' generated €470,000 of free media publicity and became Romania’s most talked-about sponsored event – ever!