Advertising Tips

The Best Mobile Adverts: 2008

Orange broadband, O2, Virgin media or BT? Just who had the best mobile advert in 2008?

5

Orange: I Am Everyone

Orange put their foot down on the gas these past twelve months with a number of mobile and broadband advertising campaigns. With the unveiling of their latest mobile charge scheme in the new days of the year, the Orange broadband and mobile promotional department went into light speed to attain the imagination of unattached Orange broadband and mobile customers. Thus, the ‘I Am Everyone’ advertisement was born.

If the style is familiar, it’s because it is. Older readers will remember the New York City power cut advert and the Orange broadband campaign to star a fish stuck in a bowl. Another advert for Orange broadband, shown two years ago, featuring two clockwork toys in a loving embrace, hummed the same tune. The ‘I Am Everyone’ campaign sneaks into the top 5 list of the best mobile adverts because it crosses all the right boxes. It’s emotional and poignant and, unless you’re rather, reminds us that there’s so much more to living than money and chocolate. Sadly though, this is just more of the same from Orange and the promotion offers nothing spectacular from the Orange broadband or mobile promotions viewers have seen today, last week or decade. “Friendship?” one individual asked on a website. “Are they including random peoples’ MSN details with their Orange broadband subscriptions these days?”

4

O2 Better: Connected

The Orange broadband and mobile campaign wasn’t just the broadband deal to be advertised imaginatively though and O2 got out the surrealism for their latest broadband advertisement. Surrealism indeed. Barking Labradors on roofs, commuting bears and crowd-surfing stages all made for an eccentric and exhilarating advert that trumped Orange Broadband’s equivalent for creativity. The advert was such a success, the same surreal theme was used for O2’s home broadband package campaign later in the year; the advert panning through an animated street of houses that were lacking O2 broadband .Needless to say, they looked sad. Funnily enough, a similar approach was used for an Orange broadband advert in 2006; an unhappy goldfish did laps around a goldfish bowl, despondently looking out into sea. Orange broadband makes fish happy supposedly.

3

Virgin: Mother of All Broadband

Virgin broadband dragged in two of the biggest names in Tinsel town and both Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson stood in the glare of the camera for the broadband provider’s advertising this year. Pulling in two of Hollywood’s largest names for its broadband package campaign automatically means Virgin wins the war against its rivals for the biggest names (O2 utilised the talents of Sean Bean, while Orange Broadband gave a star role to cyclist Mark Beaumont). It’s actually quite a slick advert too. While the presence of Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson certainly get your interest, the advert is actually quite a persuasive bit of promotion for Virgin broadband.

The advert doesn’t make it into the top two spots though; once the original amazement of being sold broadband by Samuel L. Jackson washes over you, there’s not enough substance about the advert to guarantee it for a place in the top two. Indeed, there are only a rare number of times where you can be interested in a celebrity standing in front of flashing orange broadband sign.

2

Orange: Film Funding Board

Orange’s pre-screening advertising took a radical approach in advertising Orange broadband than the Orange broadband and mobile adverts on television had taken; the emotional angle of the adverts and inspirational heart of the ‘I Am Everyone’ campaign was abandoned for something totally different. Starring the likes of Snoop Dogg and Steven Segal as they present film ideas to a board of clueless Orange media sorts, the adverts are a lifetime away from the production-heavy advertisements of past Orange broadband and mobile campaigns. Indeed, depending on the movie you are paying to see the Orange adverts were occasionally better than the actual feature film itself.

The end result is a promotional campaign that is more creative than the Orange broadband and mobile adverts but also more interesting. While you can give props for the corny slush Orange sometimes broadcast – we’re looking at you, Orange broadband goldfish – the Film Funding Board promotional campaign completely hammers it. It’s a brilliant demonstration of how comedy can help sell a product. Unfortunately, it’s not that brilliant for a gold medal in the quest for the best mobile advert 2008.

1

BT: Adam and Jane

The winner of the greatest mobile advert in 2008 comes from communications company BT, triumphing over both the 02 and Orange broadband advertising.
Adam and Jane, featuring Brit actor Kris Marshal, proved to be the most innovative and, at times, emotional mobile advert on the air in 2008. The £11 million campaign was, like the best radio adverts normally are, uncomplicated, straight to the point and inspiring, hammering the slickness of the Virgin advert and trouncing Orange broadband’s campaign. Following the lives of Adam and Jane, the adverts promoted BT’s cheap broadband package in a down-to-earth way many viewers were very receptive of.
Through a series of adverts, TV watchers were given an intimate view into the life of Adam and Jane as they became an item – following the highs and lows of their time together. As evidence to the success of the BT broadband campaign, a Facebook group was created in an effort to convince the company to keep the pair together after the pair split. Alas, their love was not to be that of Fairytales and after another advert in November, it became apparent that the relationship between the broadband love birds was over. A sad day for all concerned. A genuinely-affecting broadband campaign and a worthy winner in the best mobile advert 2008. No doubt the brains responsible for O2 and Orange broadband will be taking notes.

Author:
Samantha French has been a freelance journalist for over a decade. She works with a range of clients to produce copy for internet, magazines and television. She is also a full time writer for broadband comparison website Compare Broadband UK

Terms: Articles may be reprinted provided content is not edited and links are kept live

Source: www.articledepot.co.uk

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