2021 Brand Experience & Activation

THE 5700 EURO PHONE. GERMANY´S MOST UNFAIR OFFER.

TitleTHE 5700 EURO PHONE. GERMANY´S MOST UNFAIR OFFER.
BrandO₂
Product/ServiceO₂
Category D03. Use of Social & Digital Platforms
Entrant SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Munich, GERMANY
Idea Creation SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Munich, GERMANY
Production NEVEREST Hamburg, GERMANY
Production 2 EMMA.FILM Munich, GERMANY
Additional Company SUPREME MUSIC Hamburg, GERMANY
Additional Company 2 HAVAS MEDIA Frankfurt, GERMANY
Additional Company 3 INTERMATE MEDIA Berlin, GERMANY
Additional Company 4 PUNCH & BRAIN Cologne, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Alex Schil SERVICEPLAN GROUP Global Chief Creative Officer
Leif Johannsen SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Managing Partner
Patrick Matthiensen SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Managing Partner
Lars Holling SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Managing Partner
Daniel Steller SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Creative Director Copy
Pavel Bondarenko SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Creative Director Art
Martin Gillen SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Senior Art Director
Finnja Skornia SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Senior Art Director
Theresa Fechler SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Junior Art Director
Steven Hartmann SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Junior Copywriter
Sabrina Schwartz SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Etat Director
Madeliene Pfisterer NEVEREST Junior Producer
Wolfgang Metze Telefónica Germany Chief Consumer Officer
Michael Falkensteiner Telefónica Germany Director Brand & Marketing Communications
Verena Grundke Telefónica Germany Director Customer Marketing
Seyhan Buyar Telefónica Germany Principal End-to-End Communications
Tobias Schubert Telefónica Germany Manager Trade Marketing
Wolfgang Bothmann Freelance Cast
Felix Julian Koch EMMA.FILM Regisseur / Edit
Maximilian Hillmer EMMA.FILM DoP / Edit
Jan Spatschek EMMA.FILM AC
Dennis Spangenmacher EMMA.FILM Line Producer
Tim Stephan EMMA.FILM Sound
Dennis Koeppel EMMA.FILM Colors and Retouch
Thomas Suessmair EMMA.FILM Sounddesign and Mix
Maximilian Olowinsky SUPREME MUSIC Sounddesign and Mix

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

We used the power of storytelling and humour to raise awareness about a rather dry topic people tend to avoid, but never should: the smallprint in their phone contracts. By creating a character every German can relate to, we were able to activate the German public, start a discussion about unfair contracts – and communicate our fair plan options at the same time. Creating a brand experience people never would have expected from a telco provider in that context.

Background

The Germans pay hundreds of millions too much for their phones – without knowing it. The reason: unfair contracts that force them to pay the same combined price for phone and plan – even when they have already payed off the device a long time ago. In Germany, we call them bundle contracts. Unfair stuff! On the other hand, with our “o2 my handy” offer, you get two separate contracts. Which means: you can be sure to never overpay for your phone. So, to raise awareness about the problem and to communicate our fair offers, a big splash was needed.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

The 5700 Euro Phone. A cheeky online guerilla stunt that used an online local ad platform where people search for fair deals to create the most unfair offer Germany has ever seen: a Nokia 8110 from 1996 for 5,700 Euros. Yes, not kidding.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Since most Germans don’t know they are paying too much for their phones when they have a bundle contract, we needed a solution that creates the maximum amount of attention. And you don’t get that when it’s coming directly from another telco provider. You need a story told by someone else. So, what’s better than creating an absurdly unfair offer by a “real” person and put it up for sale on a platform where people are looking for especially fair offers? The strategy was: use humour and storytelling to create credibility and relatibility and let the power of social media do the rest.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

We invented a character: 60 year-old Ernst. Ernst has a Nokia 8110 he pays off since 1996. That’s over 5,700 Euros! So, we wrote an insanely unfair offer for his phone and put it up for sale on a platform where people search for fair deals: Ebay Kleinanzeigen. A special German version of Ebay for local ads. The price for the phone: 5700 Euro. The same amount he paid too much for the last 25 years. Within hours, the offer created a lot of buzz. Celebrities, influencers and blogs shared it via social media. Users wrote hundreds of messages to Ernst and communicated directly with him. Or with us, to be precise. He even had an appearance on a famous podcast. And was talked about on TV. After 2 weeks, we revealed everything. With a mockumentary about Ernst that linked to a microsite where users could find our fair offers.

List the results (30% of vote)

- More than 31,000,000 in Press Reach - Over 16,500,000 Social Media Impressions - Over 185,000 Social Media Interactions - More than 250,000 Microsite visits - 6.3 % Engagement Rate for all reveal campaign assets - But most importantly: an ongoing discussion about unfair bundle contracts in the German public that leads to only one telco provider, where the contracts are fairly separated: us.