Digital Connections

Shortage Of Creative Campaigns?... I Blame The Credit Crunch!

After the holidays I came back all refreshed, eagerly awaiting to be "entertained" by a raft of exciting new creative campaigns… they never appeared.

Possible causes…clients not spending, uninspired sale (70% off) executions, or simply a lack of creativity? Surely they can’t be the reasons.

No, I blame the credit crunch ... and myself.

You see, since Christmas I've tightened the family purse strings and haven’t wanted to purchase.

Although in the past that wouldn’t have made any difference, advertisers would have bludgeoned my household with their messages anyway. By purchasing media time during Lost, 24, Premier League football or at the Cinema, somehow they would have “broken and entered” into our lives and hijacked our attention.

However, we’re now at a critical tipping point, and finally the power is firmly with me and not the advertiser.

I control what content I receive, when I want it delivered and how I want it. I watch Premier League football (cough) delivered rather magically by the fairies, I’m downloading movies and drama programmes via torrent or BBC iplayer and I listen to music, not on the radio, using Spotify and my Ipod.

I haven't accessed the internet to search for information and content on any electrical goods, software, clothes, or a new car so review sites such as Ciao and Which have been off the agenda.

Obviously, I’m still communicating online but on my terms. Advertisers aren't able to steal my time or earn my attention; therefore I'm not being exposed to their broadcasted interruption messages.

Maybe when the credit crunch eases and I do decide to start spending, I'll start to notice all those great campaigns again.

Innovative Flash Mob Based Campaign by T-Mobile

Generally I'm not a fan of flash mobs - usually a bit gimmicky due to lack of a decent creative idea, but this one from T-Mobile (Saatchi & S) really does stand out as a very good and part of a larger integrated campaign.

“Life is for Sharing” has been T-Mobile’s strapline since June 08, based on a couple of key insights into our “digital generation” - relationships and collaboration.

Sadly T-Mobile haven’t made much impact with the “Life’s for Sharing” campaign, unlike O2‘s “We’re better, connected”. I’m not sure of the actual figures but it appears that T-Mobile are lagging well behind O2, Vodafone, 3, and Orange when it comes to building their UK brands.

The new campaign has all the right ingredients for T-Mobile to kick on further, hopefully Saatchi & Saatchi’s efforts won’t be in vain.

The three-minute flash mob ad premiered during an entire ad break during Channel 4’s 'Celebrity Big Brother' on Friday night, less than 48 hours after filming. It was subsequently posted on a tailored YouTube site.

What makes the campaign so good?

It ticks four of the boxes that brands need to adopt when targeting the “digital generation” (under 30’s basically) namely collaboration, entertainment, speed and innovation.

Collaboration is at the heart of web 2.0. The “digital generation“ are natural collaborators developing relationships and sharing information and their experiences. The T-Mobile ad is already being discussed amongst bloggers and on websites. There’s a customised YouTube channel all set up and ready for video sharing, an aspect of the campaign expected to accompany the 30 second edits. Not to mention the commuters at Liverpool Street who were recording live images, mms’ing, txt’ing and calling mates about what they were witnessing.

Liverpool Street station, traditionally a transport hub for London’s commuters was for 3 minutes turned into a 350 person dance studio. The entire event was subsequently turned into a 3 minute ad break during Celebrity Big Brother. To quote Paul Weller, “That’s entertainment”.

Live event to TV ad in 48 hours, speedy turnaround times from Saatchi’s production department, and exactly what the “digital generation” expects.

A stand alone flash mob isn’t innovative by any stretch of the imagination, but this is an innovative integrated on and offline campaign. The dance routine, the execution, the turnaround time, the understanding of the ”digital” target audience and the strategic planning … that’s what makes this T-Mobile campaign so innovative.

Time will tell whether this T-Mobile is a true success, who knows maybe Saatchi’s can finally drag T-Mobile out of the “mobile doldrums”.