Connexion, the has-been male duo, evokes memories of fictional character Austin Powers with their bouffant hair and frilly shirts tucked neatly into tapered pants. According to the background provided by TBWA writer Tara Hirebet, the England-based band had a hit with Ring ring in Belgium in the mid ’80s before fading into obscurity. It has now decided to make a comeback of sorts in Singapore - hence the campaign.
Targeting 16- to 25-year-olds, the initiative highlights the idea that “current ‘ring ring’ connection tones are outdated”, said Graham Kelly, TBWA ECD. “The ’80s bands are so old-fashioned when you look at the styles, the hair, the music. It fits in with our concept.”
The first phase of the three-month campaign featured a teaser ad masquerading as a poster for a Connexion concert in Singapore. There was no mention of M1 and viewers were urged to visit the website (www.connexion-music.com) for more information. Videos of the duo’s hit single and a sweatband ad they had supposedly starred in were uploaded to YouTube. TBWA also created profiles for the band on popular social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, as well as Wikipedia.
“We didn’t want to make it all hard-sell since our competitors tend to adopt conventional messaging when selling products like these,” he pointed out.
The faux band was finally revealed to be a marketing gimmick during the second phase of the campaign. Press ads and out-of-home posters placed the tagline ‘Outdated? So is your connecting tone’ alongside pictures of the duo. In addition, a seven-minute ‘making of’ video of the antiquated band’s adventures in Singapore’s suburbs and pubs was placed on YouTube.
And for the last lap, audiences should “expect the unexpected”, warned Kelly. “We are planning to release a full-length single of the song and there will be more tactical ads placed in The New Paper.”
TBWA worked with production house Two Oceans for the videos, and Yellow Box wrote the music. M1 recently extended its contract with the agency for another year, ending months of speculation.
