IN YOUR HEAD
<<
Sphere
#40
2016
22
“The brand recall
came instead from the
correlation between Hutchison and the
song itself, not whether the song had our
name in it.”
Leon Lai’s star power ensured that the
advertisements were discussed in the
news as a story on their own, adding
a dimension unique to celebrity
endorsement. The advertisements were
spectacularly successful and enduring,
and each one had a catchphrase that
went viral. Friends would talk about them,
students would repeat them in school, and
comedians fought to come up with the
best parodies. The partnership expanded
to encompass not just pagers but all the
telecom services. The positive association
of Hutchison Telecoms with Leon Lai
endures today.
In Ms Ip’s words, the effect was
“Miraculous... Our advertisements created
a lot of discussion, drew attention, and
sales continued to rise.”
#Today
The ascension of the Internet and
social media today has produced an
ecosystem that offers some very different
opportunities for smart marketing people
on the cutting edge.
In Europe,
3
UK has successfully produced
successive campaigns that have gone viral.
The #DancePonyDance advert, released
in February 2013, featured a Shetland
pony dancing and moonwalking to the
song,
Everywhere
by Fleetwood Mac. The
video has reached over 11 million views on
YouTube, and received more than 43,000
shares on social media. Actually watching
this 1 minute and 10 second video 11 million
times would take nearly 24.5 years!
Its very popular sequel #SingItKitty —
featuring a singing cat — was launched a
year later.
These campaigns might seem a little
silly; in fact, that was the premise of both
campaigns. The tagline read, “Silly stuff.
It matters”. But don’t be fooled. These
advertisements did wonders for
3
UK,
with a 50 per cent increase in relative
brand appeal since the new approach to
advertising was adopted.
“Sharing over the Internet facilitates our
human need for belonging and helps us
provide a more immersive and credible
brand experience,” says Tom Malleschitz,
Chief Marketing Officer at
3
UK. “It’s
imperative today that we create emotional
campaigns that encourage people to
watch, share and engage with the content
and our brand.”
#DancePonyDance: The
campaign was the first time
ever that a hashtag was used in
TV advertising.
