| Title | MEN OF ROCK |
| Brand | VR |
| Product/Service | RAILWAY TRAVEL |
| Category |
B02. Use of Ambient Media: large scale |
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Entrant
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TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
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Idea Creation
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TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
|
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PR
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TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
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Production
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TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
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Credits
| Taneli Mattelmäki |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Business Partner |
| Jyrki Poutanen |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Executive Creative Director |
| Jeroen van Hove |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Chief Data Officer |
| Juhana Hokkanen |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Head of Creative Technology |
| Pia Grekula |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Art Director |
| Ville Ohtonen |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Copywriter |
| Simone Bocedi |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Creative Content Strategist |
| Janni Widerholm |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Creative Content Strategist |
| Nea Astala |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Data Analyst |
| Sanni Salminen |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Graphic Designer |
| Tuukka Laitinen |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Editor |
| Tobias Andersson |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Editor |
| Mark Stroman |
McGhee Entertainment |
SVP Sales & Marketing |
| Pia Lindroos |
LiveNation |
Marketing Manager |
| Mikko Junttila |
ToinenPHD |
Account Manager |
| Mikko Vieri |
VR |
Social Media Specialist |
| Anne Kankaanpää |
VR |
Campaign Planner |
| Sara Kontio |
VR |
Marketing Planner |
| Henna Norberg |
VR |
Communications Manager |
The Campaign
When VR heard, that the epic heavy band KISS was arriving in town, it connected the dots: the band AND the statues are both “men of rock”.
VR realized, that merging the Finns’ metal enthusiasm with VR’s own brand symbol in a highly surprising and concrete way would result in wide spread positive attention.
Campaign Success
First VR invited Finnish KISS fans to enter a competition. The main prize was the permit to paint the four 3D printed masks.
After going through thousands of applications from eager KISS fans, we selected four of them to do the painting.
A week before the KISS concert we attached the masks on the statues, so that everyone had ample time to check and selfie them. The masks became a temporary landmark sight, everyone in Helsinki wanted to see them.
On the concert day we invited the band to visit the statues, and they were more than willing to arrive. They were so impressed with the gigantic masks, that they asked VR to donate them to tour the various KISS Expo’ of the world.
Through each and every step of the process we carefully fed PR to press nationally and internationally.
Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results
Men of Rock become the most covered Finnish campaign in Finnish media, ever. 265 articles were released, including all 10 of the 10 biggest newspapers, the two biggest tv news channels and all national radio channels. Needless to say, Facebook, Twitter and especially Instagram went crazy.
The campaign, that only cost 36 000 €, reached 196 000 000 impressions and earned media value was 6 733 356 € – over 187 times the campaign costs.
And most importantly: all the media coverage and social media discussion was positive for the VR brand – the total opposite of the negative tone of the recent years.
Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service
Men of Rock was founded upon Finnish metal fans' enthusiasm. The campaign wouldn't have worked if it hadn't succeeded to activate the metalheads to talk, write, share, post and selfie about it. Men of Rock managed to activate the target group (including KISS itself) – both online and on location – to such an extent, that all national news media had to report it, eventually making it the most covered campaign in Finland, ever.
As VR is the National Railway company, its target audience is more or less the entire population of Finland. The best (and cheapest!) way to reach them all, was to create something, that would have the national press and Finns in social media talk about it.
We first fed our PR material to international press. Moreover, we negotiated with KISS, that they would release the material first, in their social channels. This way we got international media to cover “Finland creating the ultimate KISS tribute”.
As soon as the international news spread, Finnish media got excited. “VR has made the news abroad” was all over national media for three weeks in a row.
Our only “media ad placement” were the four KISS masks placed on the faces of the Men of Rock statues, Helsinki’s most central sight, located at the main railway station.