T-Mobile. T-ranscending media.

What we see increasingly in the world of marcomms is the rise and rise of the branded event. It’s advertising that transcends media.

Take the HBO ‘Voyeur’ campaign from BBDO New York. It was a film projected onto a wall which drew people into an online experience, which then got fed back to a wider audience through TV advertising.

It was difficult for awards juries to say exactly what sort of an idea it was so they gave it prizes for Outdoor, Digital, Direct Marketing, TV advertising and Media Innovation.
Other similar ideas were Shackleton’s ‘Monument’ for the Spanish Association of Gynaecologists and Fallon’s ‘Foam’ for Sony cameras. These are ideas that start with live events which become online content, inviting people in to both share and grow the experience.

The first campaign of this sort that we’ve seen this year is from the UK, the T-Mobile Liverpool Street extravaganza. On Monday January 19th, 316 actors and T-Mobile staff sprang into life at the railway station and began a Fame Academy routine that startled and entertained the few legitimate train passengers who were milling around. The whole flashmob routine was filmed and broadcast as a commercial the next day, taking over an entire break on Channel 4.

Already on Youtube the movie has had over 1 million views. There are also clips captured by punters who were there on their camera-phones. And now at Liverpool Street station the digital poster sites there are playing those clips back to the people who created them. What’s more, the new campaign theme of ‘Life’s for sharing’ has now been sold into their own people, who were actively encouraged to be a part of the event.

Clever stuff from Paul Silburn, the creative tyro at Saatchi & Saatchi, London.