T-Mobile ‘Big Night In'

Objectives
In the summer of 2010, Brands2Life was challenged with launching T-Mobile’s new customer loyalty scheme - Night In - a movie and game rental offer with Blockbuster.

Our brief was twofold: drive widespread awareness for Night In and encourage submissions to the accompanying UGC advertising campaign via T-Mobile’s YouTube channel. The campaign also had to adhere to T-Mobile’s creative principles for its iconic ‘Life’s for Sharing’ campaigns, which included the famous Liverpool Street Station ‘Dance’ and Trafalgar Square ‘Sing’.

Our execution needed to inspire and encourage participation, be unmissable so that those not involved wished they were.  T-Mobile was also looking for an ambitious, audacious campaign done on a scale which meant as many people as possible could take part. In addition, we needed to find a way a vehicle that would communicate the campaign’s multiple messages, namely:

  • The details of the Night In offer – T-Mobile customers can get 5 things – two movies, a game and a movie plus three snacks - for £5 from Blockbuster
  • The ad concept - T-Mobile customers can star in the company’s latest TV ad
  • How to get involved – film an invitation to a night in and upload to YouTube

Strategy and plan
We wanted to create a simple vehicle for these complex messages and one that would deliver both media buzz and customer participation.  At the heart of or campaign idea was the item that’s inextricably linked to an evening at home with a DVD: a sofa. But the sofa we created was no ordinary piece of furniture. A giant T-Mobile pink settee - almost as big as a double-decker bus – was commissioned to be the centre-piece of a series of experiential events / picture stories.

Brands2Life tracked down the prop company behind Dr Who to build a sofa measuring 7 metres wide by 5 metres high which was erected in London’s Covent Garden. The sofa mechanic delivered on a number of levels:

  • An attention-grabbing device for media that would serve-up visual branding in photographs
  • A spectacle to create buzz and interest
  • An engagement mechanic whereby the sofa became a ‘casting couch’ so people could climb aboard and film an audition for the advert

The event was teased on Facebook with images posted of the sofa in various stages of construction and was pre-publicised on what’s on websites and via T-Mobile’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube venues. The morning of the event saw girl group of the moment, The Saturdays, climb on the colossal couch for a photo-call attended by over 30 photographers. The sofa was then opened up to the 100,000 people who passed through Covent Garden with people queuing throughout the day to audition and film an invitation to their night in.

Results
103 pieces of coverage, saturating the nationals with pieces appearing in the Daily Mirror, Daily Star, The Guardian (picture of the week), Mail Online, Telegraph Online and Metro Online. Broadcast coverage included Capital FM, Heart FM, Live at Studio Five and Living TV and the story was also covered by lifestyle media such as OK!, Star, Now and Heat. Night In messaging came through loud and clear with the Mail Online piece featuring no fewer than six T-Mobile Night In mentions – including the headline – and featured the call to action to get involved in the ad campaign. 

  • Over 150 auditions were filmed on the Big Sofa, with one auditionee being selected to star in a TV ad
  • 193 million opportunities to see
  • Advertising Value Equivalent of £414,000
  • Return on investment for T-Mobile of 102%
  • Helped to deliver 222,000 redemptions of Night In vouchers during the campaign period
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