Title	LIVE. FROM A DIFFERENT WORLD
Brand	VODAFONE
Product/Service	TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Category	C02. Use of Social in a PR campaign
Entrant	McCANN BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
Idea Creation	McCANN BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
Media Placement	MEC ROMANIA, ROMANIA
PR	McCANN BUCHAREST, ROMANIA

Name	Company	Position
CATALIN DOBRE	MCCANN WORLDGROUP ROMANIA	Chief Creative Officer
RUXANDRA PAPUC	MCCANN WORLDGROUP ROMANIA	Creative Group Head
DANIEL STRUGARIU	MCCANN WORLDGROUP ROMANI	Art Director

The Campaign

We connected the two Romanian worlds that never meet and grow apart further and further each day: the urban, young and modern but losing touch with their roots, and the most isolated parts of Romania, full of old traditions but shrinking in isolation. Vodafone managed to prove the power of its network and connect the two. We created a live show that functioned like a PR machine: each answer the elders gave generated a media conversation and media buzz. “Live from a different world” connected urban Romanians to the most authentic Romanians alive: the elders awarded by UNESCO status as “Living Human Treasures” for keeping old traditions and values alive. For two seasons of four episodes each, the elders welcomed us to their world. Everyone online joined LIVE a village elders’ gathering, a traditional sewing lesson with the sheepskins master, the last traditional singer’s recital and a visual crafts workshop.

Execution

“Live. From a different world” was a series of 8 episodes livestreamed on Facebook from the most remote places in Romania where the last tradition keepers live. The show was highly interactive and people from all over the country could connect to the elders from the “other Romania” and engage in a real conversation with them. Even Romanians from abroad got in touch. The media campaign was a mix of digital (display / programmatic), FB promoted posts and special TV presence and regular TVCs broadcast a few days before the events (to build interest). For the first time we promoted an online show using 20” TV spots on the main TV stations. The campaign generated media stories and engaged top Romanian celebrities, designers and even Emmy awarded journalists and we managed to bring these old traditions & values into the mainstream media.

Vodafone has connected the two Romanian worlds while proving their network superiority. Vodafone claimed 1st place in public perception of 4G coverage, with a peaking gap of 21% versus Orange, its main competitor. The show was an online hit that gathered over 2 million participants, becoming a top talk show overpassing even some of the most viewed TV shows.

The Situation

In order to prove its network’s strength, Vodafone developed a format that connected the urban and the most isolated parts of Romania, in real time. Through an interactive talk show, broadcasted live on Facebook from deep in the Carpathian Mountains, the online generation got to meet the last keepers of traditions who live a life so authentic, UNESCO gave them status as “living human treasures”. We created a live show that functioned like a PR machine: each answer the elders gave generated a media conversation and media buzz.

The Strategy

We wanted to connect the young Romanians to the keepers of the Romanian tradition & knowledge, in order to create a conversation around the differences that came up while the two Romanias grew apart. The young urban Romanian’s lives are happening online. Facebook is where their newsroom, their journal, their social life and their entertainment place are. Thus, this was the natural media for our new show. We wanted to catch young peoples’ attention and actually engage them in a conversation with the “living human treasures” who they wouldn’t have met otherwise. Facebook’s Live feature provided us with the interactivity and engagement potential we needed, and this is how we got to the idea of launching a Live show series. The best support to prove our network leadership.