Project Overview
Vodafone wanted to do something a little different with its headline sponsorship of Capital's Summertime Ball in 2016, to truly connect with the event’s target audience of tech savvy, music loving 13-19 year olds.
The result? An integrated campaign with brand experience at its core. Vodafone Future Breakers Live, or 'the party before the party' brought the Future Breakers platform to life in front of attendees’ eyes, ramping them up for their day ahead at Capital’s Summertime Ball.
From 9am through to 2pm consumers could explore four different experience areas, including the Future Breakers Live Stage, Superstar Village, Emoji Orchard and Secret Garden.
Key results include: 96% per cent of attendees could recall that Vodafone was sponsor of Capital’s Summertime Ball 2016 unprompted, 98% when prompted, and the activation was visible to 50,000+ people on the day. 58% of attendees are now more likely to consider Vodafone as a result of the event sponsorship.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Project Brief
Vodafone wanted to play a credible and relevant role at Capital’s Summertime Ball in 2016, and so it sought an experience which would encourage consumers to:
•Think: I’ve never seen anything like this from Vodafone before
•Feel: Famous and special
•Do: Brag and tell their friends
Think
Vodafone sought to emotionally connect with the event’s target audience, by creating a completely new experience for them that would change the group’s perceptions of the brand.
Feel
Vodafone wanted to work with an agency that could create an experience which would make attendees feel famous and special, and drive positive brand health metrics such as ‘fun’, ‘adventurous’ and ‘inspirational.’
Do
The brief required that the Vodafone Future Breakers platform–a talent search the brand delivers with Global Radio to unearth the musicians of the future, be brought to life in a unique setting, so that consumers would want to share and brag about the event.
Project Innovation/Need
Drawing on the theory of intersectional design thinking–whereby disparate ideas are combined to create a new idea or concept, FreemanXP considered what it was that people visiting Capital’s Summertime Ball wanted to think, feel and do.
Music was selected as the platform for think, in order to create an “I’ve never seen anything like this before” experience. For feel, the focus was on the concept of “15 minutes of fame,” so that attendees would feel famous and special. For do, the idea was to create an environment that connected with people, so they would feel inclined to capture their experience and share it with others.
Think, feel, and do transformed into music, fame, and people – and at that point, the concept Vodafone Future Breakers Live – ‘the party before the party’ was born.
Design Challenge
Vodafone's position as at time of briefing – March 2016:
•Brand awareness was very high (95%), yet consideration was lower (35%).
•Brand health scores such as personality were on the decline. Vodafone was seen as ‘old fashioned’ and ‘boring’. It wants to be considered as ‘fun’, ‘adventurous’ and ‘inspirational.’
•The brand’s emotional connection score sat at 38.
Vodafone wanted to alter the way that this born mobile, 13-19 year old group perceived the brand, so it was important that the experience cut through the clutter and connect with the audience in a unique and personalised way.
User Experience
The experience areas were created with the consumer at the forefront.
Future Breakers Live Stage: Hosted live performances from six unsigned artists.
Superstar Village: Offered attendees a taste of the celebrity life, with festival looks such as body glitter, braids and metallic tattoos available, along with a paparazzi experience at the Take the Stage hyper gif photo booth.
Emoji Orchard: Oversized emojis were placed in trees throughout Market Square, providing great photo opportunities and facilitating sharing on social media.
Secret Garden: Was designed for Vodafone customers only, who could take up to five guests with them. Included a Wheel of Fortune game, nitrogen ice cream, beauty booth, pizzeria, goody bags and non-public bathrooms, all of which were free.
RESULTS (in addition to introduction):
•More than 3,000 interactions with brand ambassadors were recorded.
•400+ people received celebrity-inspired makeovers at the Superstar Village.
•525 people visited the photo booths in the Superstar Village to get ‘papped’
•Photos created at the photo booth achieved over 170,000 reach across social.
•61% of attendees agreed they have a better impression of Vodafone after hearing about the sponsorship activity.
Marketing - Branded Experience
This award celebrates creative and innovative design for branded experiences intended to persuade an audience to purchase or take some action upon products, ideas or services. Consideration given to the technical, conceptual and aesthetic elements, user experience, audience engagement and message delivery.
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