| Title | STOLEN PHONE |
| Brand | TIME OUT |
| Product / Service | TIME OUT SHANGHAI |
| Category | A04. Ambient/Alternative Media |
| Entrant | ENERGY BBDO Shanghai, CHINA |
| Entrant Company | ENERGY BBDO Shanghai, CHINA |
| Advertising Agency | ENERGY BBDO Shanghai, CHINA |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Chara Xu | Energy Bbdo Shanghai | Senior Account Executive |
| Sky Shao | Energy Bbdo Shanghai | Senior Account Manager |
| Angel Zhang | Energy Bbdo Shanghai | Senior Account Director |
| James Drummond | Energy Bbdo Shanghai | Regional Account Director |
| Kristian Hansen | Limelight Studios Shanghai | Director |
| Nate Gagnon | Copywriter | |
| Oscar Wu | Energy Bbdo Shanghai | Senior Art Director |
| Alex Zhao | Energy Bbdo Shanghai | Senior Art Director |
| Kevin Lynch | Energy Bbdo Shanghai | Executive Creative Director |
In a city crowded with options for people to find things to see and do, Time Out Shanghai was seen as a me-too product. But Time Out goes deeper than others.The challenge was to demonstrate this in a meaningful, attention-getting way. Doing so would help differentiate Time Out Shanghai, increasing its readers and users, and making it more attractive to advertisers.
The insight is really in the product itself: Time Out Shanghai digs deeper into the city to find hidden gems that might not otherwise be discovered.
To demonstrate this difference, we created the Stolen Phone Tour. We purposely “lost” Time Out Shanghai’s cell phone, and placed it on a random street in Shanghai, available for any passerby to pick up. Once someone did, they received a text: “Get in the London cab that just pulled up.” The cab carried the phone snatchers around the city to discover places they would have never found on their own. The only communication was through text messages on the phone. Each stop along the way was captured by hidden camera.
While business results are still being tabulated, the project was the most buzz-generating effort in the brand’s history, based on PR and social media engagement. The Stolen Phone Tour has been the most buzz-generating campaign in Time Out’s history, and has increased social media engagement, website visits, and time spent on the site.