SmarTone spells out what it has to offer in five letters

It has been a busy week in the smartphone business, what with Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi all unveiling new models within days of each other. Perhaps Hong Kong telco SmarTone wants to strike the iron while it is hot before the new models go on sale. The company has launched a new branding campaign, dubbed '5s', through DDB Group Hong Kong, which recently won the telco's integrated branding duties. (A little birdie tells Ad Nut that SmarTone continues to work with TBWA Hong Kong on digital initiatives, on a project basis).

The carrier surely hopes you won't confuse the '5s' brand promise with an older iPhone model from the yonder years. The marque actually stands for five elements that start with the letter 's'. Being the smallest of four operators in Hong Kong, with a 16-percent market share, it is understandable that SmarTone wants to debunk the telco myth that speed is everything. So while that's one of the five, the others are stability, seamlessness, security and service.

Ad Nut doesn't get the human fascination with acronyms. Don't you always boast about having the most advanced language among all species? But Ad Nut must admit that the new campaign achieves its purpose without much fuss, unlike this bizzare previous branding effort. The short clip feels a little techie and a little retro at the same time.

However, the brand may want to be prepared to explain things to puzzled non-Cantonese speakers, because when spoken in the local dialect, "5s" sounds an awful lot like "mess".

CREDITS

Chief Creative Officer & Managing Partner: Keith Ho
Head of Strategy & Innovation: Andreas Krasser
Director of Client Services: Benny Ko
Head of TV production: Annie Tong
Group Creative Director: Lan Kwok
Associate Creative Director: Ray Nam
Associate Strategy Director: Adrian Tso
Senior Account Director: Cafy Choi
Associate Account Director: Stannie Li
Account Executive: Leo Yuen
Media Agency: M2M Media

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. Check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame.