Skinny’s playful ‘Famous Names’ campaign has taken a new twist this month with a first-of-its-kind integration into New Zealand’s much-loved and longest-running soap, Shortland Street.
PHD and DRUM have worked with the award-winning Kiwi telco to raise the bar for media creativity, by making Skinny the first-ever brand to integrate bespoke content into the set – and series – of the iconic TV show.
Proving its brand promise that it will do anything to keep prices low and customers happy, Skinny’s very own Chris Warner from Kaukapakapa has taken the spotlight, starring in three different content executions filmed on the Shortland Street set.
Each execution appears as the last-in-break ad in select episodes of Shortland Street on TV, so fans and viewers think they’re back into the throes of their favourite drama – when in fact it’s a cleverly placed message from their favourite telco.
“The opportunity to extend and elevate our Famous Names brand platform into the set of Shortland Street, plus be the first Kiwi brand to create such an integration with the show was a no-brainer. Cleverly showcase how we keep prices low to half a million devoted fans? Yes please,” says Hunter Haines, Skinny Brand Partner.
To complement the integration and drive deeper engagement with viewers as part of the partnership, there are three social executions also live giving viewers the chance to win epic Skinny prizes.
PHD’s creative integration lead Amanda Palenski says: “TVNZ and SPP truly came to the party on delivering brilliant integration for Skinny within the iconic Shortland St. They perfectly understood the brief and really pushed the boundaries for us, resulting in some real content magic for Skinny.”
Aimee Nicholls, DRUM managing partner says: “We have been refining our media partnership capabilities for many years now and this work is a fantastic example of best practice integration in this space. It has been a true collaboration between all involved, and perfectly combines and brings to life the tone of the brand and partner in an engaging and entertaining way.”
The partnership is an extension of Skinny’s ‘Famous Names’ campaign that initially ran in 2018. The Colenso campaign starred Michael Jordan from Kelston, Clint Eastwood from Pukekohe and Julia Roberts from Tauranga, and new executions were recently launched with other celebrity namesakes like Katy Perry from Te Atatū and Louis Hamilton from Rotorua.
Haines says: “The beauty and magic of Famous Names is that they are our real customers – they’re speaking from experience. Where will they show up next?”
