The newly-introduced code — 094 — was given to new subscribers, as the old code had run out of unique number combinations.
With a shoestring budget of just US$12,000, incumbent Saatchi & Saatchi was tasked to produce three commercials that expressed the new prefix "in a memorable way", said Saatchi & Saatchi Vietnam's creative director, Sumesh Peringeth. "We had very little money to do a proper shoot, be it for print or TV," said Peringeth.
"So we had decided to make use of what was available to us, and use it in an interesting way."
The result is a series of claymation spots. Each storyboard features characters engaged in an everyday scenario — a man fishing, a couple playing on a see-saw, a guy taking a photo of his girlfriend — who are suddenly struck by the falling new numbers.
The campaign is part of the telco's bid to tap into younger generations of mobile users. The company began an image revamp last month, which aimed to rejuvenate the brand's appeal among young Vietnamese.
The state-owned company has also had to defend itself against looming competition. With a base of 3.5 million subscribers as of mid-2005, Vinaphone narrowly overtook Mobifone's base of three million subscribers last year.
Meanwhile, a new player in the form of S-Fone, a service from Korean operator SK Telecom, doubled its Vietnamese subscription base this year.
Vietnam's mobile penetration is relatively low —18.5 per cent — but it has more than tripled since 2004, when it hovered at 5.8 per cent.
