"This is a perfect arena to showcase data services and convince consumers to use their mobiles to download ring tones, picture messages as well as participate in soccer quizzes, games and lucky draw competitions, said Gerard Lim, Leo Burnett general manager.
SingTel has created ringtones based on soccer anthems, while the picture messages have the national flags and other symbols relevant to the tournament.
Lim said Singaporeans generally only used mobiles for phone calls and SMS, but he expected the campaign would convince more people to use data services, particularly "soccer fanatics who want to get on with their daily lives, but still be in touch with the World Cup."
The SingTel ads appear in Singapore's Today newspaper as well as on MediaCorp radio stations, such as Class 95. Lim said the client deliberately steered clear of television because "we figured it would be a heavily utilised medium".
"Key advertisers like McDonald's and Courts have bought heavily into the TV broadcast sponsorships and the TV stations have already started running their own World Cup promotions, he added.
He said SingTel wanted to avoid the "white noise by using alternative mediums. The campaign is also supported by in-store point-of-sale material.
