Since launching its ‘Do your thing better’ brand a few years back, Vodafone has generally looked for laughs rather than warm fuzzies (although it managed to tug a few heartstrings with its Warriors stunt on mother’s day). But it decided to focus on the emotional power of connection for its Christmas push and it’s taken Colmar Brunton’s Ad Impact Award for its efforts.
Unlike the UK, where marketers still seem quite partial to launching a massive festive campaign, New Zealand brands tend to keep things slightly more understated. In the UK, Vodafone got the entire country to sing ‘Let it Go’ from the movie Frozen. But the New Zealand outpost has taken a more lovey dovey approach, with a classic telco ad that focuses on the emotional power of the Christmas connection.
There were a few raised eyebrows when Telecom chose a turtle to play the role of brand mascot in the new Tommy and Boris campaign. And Vodafone has taken the opportunity to subtly poke fun at its major competitor with a cheeky wee number starring its spokesboy James Rolleston and a greyhound called metaphor.
With the country’s two biggest telcos each releasing big new brand campaigns at the same time, we thought we’d compare and contrast some of the follow up work. So, dear StopPress friends, who do you think is winning the communications battle at this early stage?
Vodafone has just launched its new brand positioning ‘Do Your Thing Better’, a very quirky, very Kiwi ode to the inventiveness of New Zealand that stars actor James Rolleston in the lead. Vodafone’s chief marketing officer Greg Campbell and DraftFCB’s planning director David Thomason tell us about the thinking behind it.
Last week we welcomed Telecom’s new mascots Tommy and Boris, which took the telco steaming back into its heartland territory of New Zealandness and connectivity. Vodafone has long played the exotic foreigner role and, for obvious reasons, hasn’t really played—or needed to play—the patriotic card. But that’s all changed now, because it’s gone the whole Kiwi hog for its big new brand campaign, which features the tagline ‘Do Your Thing Better’ and celebrates the fact that New Zealand is a nation of doers.