StarHub chases young mobile phone users on the move

The campaign, developed by Tribal DDB, is designed to drive awareness and adoption for the telco’s Chat Anywhere IM service, which works with both Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger applications and carries low monthly fees with unlimited data usage.

The drive features teaser ads in gaming magazines, a microsite and online banners in youth-centric sites such as MSN, Yahoo and Game Axis. Web users who click on the ads are led to a Disney-style fantasy game in which they have to set a mermaid free.

“Freedom and mobility go hand in glove. Unfortunately with instant messaging, youths are tied to their PCs, as the cost of IM on mobile is high,” said David Tang, president and chief executive of DDB Singapore. “With youths, it has to be a story that they can watch, interact with and pass on. For a character representing freedom that can stand out from a sea of online video and rich media, we found the perfect ambassador in a mermaid.”

The digital campaign’s viral value has also been stoked by the inclusion of ‘making of’ videos featuring the mermaid model on YouTube.

According to Microsoft, Singaporeans send 55 million IM messages daily.

Chat Anywhere is available to StarHub Mobile post-paid customers for a flat monthly fee. There are no extra data usage charges for the service.