Vodafone: WHO KILLED SUMMER

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Use of Branded Content

Advertiser: VODAFONE

Product/Service: VODAFONE BRAND

Agency: MWORKS LONDON

Agency: BIGBALLS FILMS

Date of First Appearance: Jul 1 2009 12:00AM

Entrant Company: MWORKS LONDON, London, UNITED KINGDOM

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

Head of Digital: Charlie Carrington (Vodafone)

Branded Entertainment Manager: Joy Campbell (Vodafone)

Executive Producer: Tom Thirlwall (MWorks London)

Director: Gavin Rowe (BigBalls Films)

Executive Producer: Luke Taylor (BigBalls Films)

Creator: Richard Welsh (BigBalls Films)

Creator: Harry Harold (Hideous)

Creative Director: Lee Jobling (MWorks London)

Planner: Kirsty Shields (MWorks London)

Account Manager: Jamie Tait (MWorks London)

Producer: Dominic Thomas (BigBalls Films)

Producer: Noreen Khan (BigBalls Films)

Producer: Ross Whittow-Williams (BigBalls Films)

Strategy Director: Neil Kleiner (EI @ Momentum Worldwide)

Strategist: Pilar Barrio (EI @ Momentum Worldwide)

Account Director: Kristie Bradley (OMD)

Account Executive: Tim Connew (OMD)

PR Director: Greg James (Cake)

Account Director: Becki Strickland (Cake)

Senior Account Manager: Kate Fayers (Cake)

Media placement: WKS Central Web Platform - Http://www.wks09.com - 16/07/2009

Media placement: Facebook - WKS09 Fan Page And 1 X Account For Each Character - Http://www.facebook.com/wks09 - July 2009

Media placement: Twitter - 1 X Account For Each Character - Http://www.twitter.com/wks09, Also Character Account Example At Http://twitter.c - July 2009

Media placement: YouTube - Http://www.youtube.com/user/whokilledsummer09 - July 2009

Media placement: Mobile Application - Wks09.mobi - July 2009

Media placement: MySpace - 1 X Account For 1 X Character's 'band' - Http://www.myspace.com/ibeatnik - July 2009

Media placement: LastFM - 1 X Account For Each Character - Various; Http://www.last.fm/user/jasperbeatnik - July 2009

Media placement: Flickr - 1 X Account For Each Character - Various; See For Example Http://www.flickr.com/photos/40046679@N02/ - July 2009

Media placement: Delicious - 1 X Account For Each Character - Various; See For Example Http://delicious.com/koduya - July 2009

Media placement: Character Blogs - Accessible From Wks09.com - See Http://claire.wks09.com/ For Example - July 2009



Results and Effectiveness

• WKS over-delivered on its objectives. Please see our confidential results for more detail.
• Over five million 16-24 year-olds viewed the series across multiple platforms.
• More than half a million downloaded the show on their mobile phones.



Creative Execution

"Vodafone Who Killed Summer?" 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.

WKS09 was the first online drama to truly behave like its hyper-connected audience. Blending drama and reality, and relayed in near real-time, our narrative lived in the spaces that our audience inhabits across the social web, mobile and live events. A dedicated community management team updated blogs, answered questions in-character and seeded red herrings and clues.

WKS09 featured 22 episodes across three months, totalling four hours of film. It ran in five languages across four countries.

We also held a live gig, where 50 WKS09 fans were invited to join the cast and bands.



Insights, Strategy & the Idea

Vodafone’s objectives were:

1. Boost loyalty and brand perception among 16-24 year-old ‘brand progressives’ and awareness of Vodafone as a credible music brand

2. Leverage social media to engage this group within their own environment through an activation grounded in music

The 16-24 year-old 'connected generation' embrace technology as an essential part of their lifestyle. Their perception of Vodafone was that it was a very corporate, safe brand that was ‘not for them’, lacking a sense of innovation and disconnected with youth.

They spend their time on multiple media and have mastered the art of filtering out irrelevant stuff; they simply don’t see traditional ads and don’t engage with intrusive media. At the same time, while there is demand for quality engaging online experiences among this group, there isn’t much for them in terms of rich content.

We wanted to create an entertainment property that behaved like its audience.