Motorola: Case study

Credits & Description:

Brand MOTOROLA
OGILVY New York, USA Entrant Company
OGILVY New York, USA Idea Creation
BIG PICTURE COMPANY New York, USA Production
ZENO GROUP New York, USA PR
Alfonso Marian Ogilvy Creative
Mike Hahn Ogilvy Creative
Ryan Blank Ogilvy Creative
Thiago Cruz Ogilvy Creative
Niels West Ogilvy Creative
Artur Lipori Ogilvy Creative
Caro Rebello Ogilvy Creative
Gina Senese Ogilvy Creative
Walter Soares Ogilvy Creative
Corinne Lowry Ogilvy Account
Laura Kanfer Ogilvy Account
Carlos Cruz Ogilvy Account
Grace Fiset Ogilvy Account
Sydney Sadler Ogilvy Account
Nicole Severi Ogilvy Production
Amanda Kresge Ogilvy Production
Akiko Nakashima Ogilvy Production
Ashley Wood Ogilvy Strategy
Kenan Ali Ogilvy Strategy
Rob Bliss Big Picture Company Production
Andrew Geller Big Picture Company Production
Matthew Snetzko Big Picture Company Production
Christo Holloway Christo Holloway Creations Creative
Jacqueline Cox Zeno Group PR
Liz Risoldi Voigts Zeno Group PR
Alicia Clarke Zeno Group PR
DATE OF CAMPAIGN 6 November 2017
Synopsis
The smartphone just turned 10 years old. It has enriched our lives in many ways. Yet while the smartphone can bring us closer to those who are far away, it sometimes separates us from those who are right in front of us.
People are beginning to talk about it. In fact, according to a Deloitte survey, 72% of 18 to 24-year-olds reported they "definitely" or "probably" use their phones too much.
None of the major smartphone brands were addressing the issues that smartphone proliferation has created. They continue to tout features, capabilities and scenarios where their smartphones can be used more and more.
This presented a clear opportunity for Motorola—the company that invented the cell phone–to counter category norms and stand out from the competition. Maybe it’s time a phone company thought about the people that use its phones. Maybe it’s time for a little phone life balance.
Strategy
Smartphone addiction is a global issue. So we wanted to create an idea that could resonate globally. By building a replica of the average human being we made people worldwide see how absurd this behavior has become. And, consequently, we made them reflect about their phone-life balance. The stunt also invited people to visit the campaign’s website and check their phone-life balance with 10 simple questions. The website provided tips of how to better interact with technology and apps to help people deal with smartphone addiction.
Relevancy
Smartphone addition has become one of the most important issues worldwide. When the company that invented the smartphone decides to launch a campaign to say “it’s time for a little Phone-Life Balance”, that becomes a big PR story.
Outcome
“Hello Real People – The Phone-Life Balance Experiment” made people see hyperrealistic figures glued to their phones and ask themselves: is this what we’ve become? The stunt took place at the most iconic spots of NYC, and invited the world to take the quiz on the campaign’s website. Our website also provided tips and an app for a “healthier” life with your phone. The Phone-Life Balance platform got 1.065.870 impressions, helping the world realize how absurd this behavior has become and come up with more conscious ways to interact with them.
Ultimately, this project is a brave move from the company that invented the smartphone. For Motorola, and hopefully for all of us, it’s time for a little phone-life balance.
Execution
Since our statues themselves would be an essential channel to deliver the message, we knew they needed to be perfect. So we partnered with 4 different artists to put the hyperrealistic figures together in a work process that took about 3 months. Working closely with renown sculptors, makeup artists and wig makers, we carefully crafted each detail to make the figures look exactly like a real human being.
We then placed the statues all over NYC (one of the most diverse cities in the world), exposing to hundreds of thousands of people from different backgrounds, so the idea could resonate better at global level. The Phone-Life Balance campaign was shared in multiple countries, including US, UK, Germany, Brazil, France and India, generating conversations on major media and social media channels.
Campaign Description
The average person spends 4 hours a day staring at their phones. To make people rethink phone-life balance, we created hyperrealistic figures. And placed them all over NYC. By building a replica of an average human being staring at his own phone, we made people recognize their own behavior in those statues –and ask themselves: is this what we’ve become as society? And most importantly: we made them think of more conscious ways to interact with technology.