Why is this work relevant for PR?

Our campaign, featuring 8 ordinary Kiwis, and promoted to a nation of just 4 million people, reached 18 million people around the globe (and 97% of New Zealanders) and was featured in Buzzfeed in America, and Vanity Fair Italy.

Background

Skinny was a low cost, youth oriented, Kiwi telco running simple, cartoon based work. We were charged with maturing the brand and relaunching it to the masses, to increase awareness and consideration, grow their client base, and reduce churn.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

We got 8 of the world's biggest names to publicly endorse Skinny, New Zealand's smallest telco - not the famous Hollywood celebrities, but ordinary Kiwis who happen to share their names with the world’s biggest celebrities.

Describe the strategy (30% of vote)

New Zealanders are outward looking – we care a lot more about New Zealand things that are picked up overseas, than stuff that becomes well known at home. With this in mind, we launched a series of unbranded portraits of our ‘big names’ standing in the iconic poses of their famous namesakes. The series was picked up internationally, and when interest was at its peak, we dropped our branded commercials, retargeting people around New Zealand who loved the photo series.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

We launched the unbranded photo series a week before we intended to launch the campaign and kept watch on how it was being picked up online. Right when we deemed interest to be at its peak, we released the branded films online and on TV in New Zealand. The series was featured in some of the world’s biggest publications, from ephemeral culture blogs, to high-end fashion magazines.

List the results (30% of vote) – must include at least two of the following tiers:

NZ is a nation of 4 million. This campaign reached 18 million people worldwide. In New Zealand we reached 97% of the nation, which was huge in helping Skinny escape their youth audience and raise consideration and awareness amongst older audiences. The brand saw 22% growth in mobile, 17% growth in broadband, and 12% reduction in churn.