Virgin Mobile Australia has launched its first marketing campaign since refreshing the brand to a more grown up look back in August.
The Game Of Phones promotion – a virtual treasure hunt in which participants must get within 50 metres of a prize and then defend it from other players – has been devised by PR agency One Green Bean and creative agency Havas Worldwide.
The game title is a play on the TV show Game Of Thrones with users asked to download an app to play.
In keeping with the signal from Virgin Mobile when it rebranded, there will be no TV component to the campaign, which is being promoted through outdoor, digital, mobile, Facebook advertising and print.
ADVERTISEMENT
Those taking part will also score points the more they share messages about their involvement with their friends and followers on Twitter and Facebook.
Nicole Bardsley, director of Virgin Mobile’s brand and communications, said: “Games are now the second most-used application on smartphones, just after Facebook and we are genuinely excited to be able to engage the public in our brand in a truly innovative, unique, fun and inherently ‘Virgin’ initiative that is ‘mobile first’.”
The campaign features YouTube beauty vlogger Chloe Morello.
The promotion sees Virgin Mobile partner with Southern Cross Austereo’s national Today Network which will provide live daily updates.
In 2011, the network’s Sydney station 2Day FM ran a similar contest to win a Holden Cruze. It was criticised at the time for encouraging dangerous driving as people raced towards – and away from – prize locations.
The initiative is not the first social media treasure hunt involving One Green Bean. The agency organised a social media treasure hunt on behalf of 42Below vodka to win tickets to a party. And it gave away Levi’s jeans to people who tracked down where the brand was tweeting from. And it ran a Toyota contest offering lifts to people who tweeted it.
oOh! media’s digital billboards will be used in the campaign to send messages to individuals playing in the game.
A dedicated Facebook page offers consumers information on how to play.
Credits:
- Concept: One Green Bean & Havas Worldwide Australia
- App Management: One Green Bean
- ATL: Havas Worldwide Australia
- Digital Advertising Development: Havas Worldwide Australia
- Media Innovation & Partnership Management: Starcom
- Media Strategy, Amplification & Investment: Starcom
- PR & Social Media: One Green Bean
- App Design & Development: Locatrix
- Video Production: Photoplay Films (Scott Otto Anderson)
- Photography Production: The Pool Collective (Sean Izzard) / Cream
