FOCUS: AGENCY OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2000 - Best Use of Media - OMD dreams up a moveable feast for Sunday

<p>WINNER </p><p>Category: Best Use of Media </p><p>Client: Sunday </p><p>Campaign: Saltimbanco MTR Journey </p><p>Media agency: Optimum Media Direction </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Applauded by spectators all over the world and described by Time </p><p>magazine as "the greatest show on Earth", Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco </p><p>premiered in Hong Kong in January this year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The show was a 2.5-hour extravaganza of acrobatics and theatrical </p><p>artistry, full of energy and optimism, and vastly different from </p><p>traditional circus performances. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>As such, Hong Kong mobile phone network service provider Sunday decided </p><p>to take advantage of this event opportunity for its first promotional </p><p>blitz for the new millennium, with an aim to reinforce its distinctive </p><p>brand personality - fun, exciting, dynamic, bold, innovative. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, Sunday was only one of the official sponsors of this </p><p>magnificent spectacle; others included Hang Seng Bank and the Swire </p><p>Group. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With a view to break free from the advertising clutter, the client </p><p>called for an unprecedented media idea which would put Sunday/ </p><p>Saltimbanco at the forefront of awareness of every person in Hong Kong, </p><p>as well as arouse maximum interest in the show. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The client also requested a minimum three-month campaign to sustain the </p><p>ticket booking period. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Faced with these challenges, the team from Optimum Media Direction </p><p>needed to devise a creative media idea and executions which would best </p><p>manifest Sunday's image and make it the most talked-about brand in town </p><p>during the event. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In the absence of any concrete creative concept, the campaign was almost </p><p>entirely media-driven. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The media idea </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Although television and print were deemed necessary to ensure mass </p><p>awareness, both were being used by all the other event sponsors. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In view of this, OMD proposed an idea which had never before been </p><p>attempted on a major transport medium, and through which the general </p><p>public would be involved on a day-to-day basis. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The concept which the media agency developed would run in Hong Kong's </p><p>underground railway network. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The Sunday/Saltimbanco MTR Journey concept gave the client ubiquitous </p><p>advertising dominance in MTR stations and trains. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The idea was to transform the everyday journey of each MTR passenger </p><p>from a mundane, routine activity into an enlivening and exciting </p><p>experience. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>OMD claims to have "re-invented the wheel" of MTR advertising and </p><p>created a range of different forms of new media options to showcase a </p><p>panoply of characters and acts from Saltimbanco. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Almost every available centimetre of space in the selected MTR stations </p><p>and trains was utilised to maximise the opportunity to see. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>For each media option, specific characters performing acts best fitted </p><p>with the particular physical environment were featured. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In other words, by the time the commuter had walked through the station </p><p>and boarded the train, he or she would have been cheered, amused and </p><p>entertained by various members of the Saltimbanco troupe, including </p><p>jugglers, clowns and acrobats. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The implementation of the idea was challenging. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With no prior precedents to look to, it took OMD nearly a month to </p><p>negotiate what it described as an "unbeatable deal" with Pearl & Dean, </p><p>the media representative which handles MTR advertising. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This was on top of dealing with the many different concerns, objections </p><p>and restrictions imposed by the MTR Corporation before it would give the </p><p>green light for the project to go ahead. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The creative execution </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In pursuit of maximum creative/media synergy, the media team was also </p><p>heavily involved in the creative development process. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The team conducted site visits to the MTR stations with BBDO's creative </p><p>people and the client, so as to identify all possible means of </p><p>advertising at the concourse, platform, corridor and inside the train </p><p>carriages. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Once final approval had been obtained from the MTRC, all parties worked </p><p>together to select the most suitable images from the Saltimbanco show </p><p>for the various media options, thereby making the visual impact of every </p><p>performer and act come alive. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This included: </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- Station pillars </p><p>- Wall posters </p><p>- Train door windows </p><p>- Train windows above the seats </p><p>- Seat backs </p><p>- Handrails/poles </p><p>- Train ceilings </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The media campaign </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The campaign ran from late 1999 to January 2000, lasting for three </p><p>months. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Posters were featured on pillars and walls in 12 key MTR stations, and a </p><p>total of 38 trains were used for interior decoration. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In order to ensure that Sunday was the dominant advertiser over the </p><p>period of the campaign, OMD secured product exclusivity. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This effectively meant that Pearl & Dean did not accept bookings from </p><p>any other mobile phone, IDD and ISP advertisers for any unconventional </p><p>media projects during the three-month Sunday/Saltimbanco campaign </p><p>period. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The results </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The campaign was deemed a huge success, with each of the parties </p><p>involved becoming a winner in their own right: </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- Sunday achieved the highest recall among all sponsors during </p><p>testing. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Despite the fact that the Swire Group was actually the title sponsor of </p><p>Saltimbanco, many people came to believe that Sunday was the major or </p><p>even sole sponsor of the show. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- There was much hype and hysteria generated in terms of publicity, </p><p>media coverage and word-of-mouth. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Some commuters even referred to the selected MTR stations featuring the </p><p>campaign as 'Saltimbanco stations'. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- Cirque du Soleil received an overwhelming response in terms of ticket </p><p>bookings and over-delivered on its business target of acquiring 200,000 </p><p>attendees. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- Following the campaign, Pearl & Deal received numerous enquiries from </p><p>other advertisers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In response, the company introduced a special rate card for all the </p><p>media options used by OMD, thereby creating a new source of revenue. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- OMD has also been approached by other advertisers as a result of its </p><p>work for Sunday/ Saltimbanco. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- BBDO, which won the Sunday advertising account in late 1997, has also </p><p>been honoured with the Asian Ad Campaign of the Year 2000 title for its </p><p>ongoing creative campaigns for this client - see story on page 36 of </p><p>this issue. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>