P!INK Project Funhouse

Optus was the number one telecoms brand for Australian teens looking for prepaid mobile plans in a notoriously competitive market. Telstra, the overall market leader, continued its strategy of commoditising the market. At number three, Vodafone spent heavily to improve its own position. Optus knew that continual innovation was critical to stay connected with younger consumers.

After friends and family, music is the most important thing in the life of young people. Music is fertile territory for brand association, yet when a mainstream brand looks for wide appeal, finding an artist that attracts the masses is not easy, especially when they need to fit the brand values too.

For teens, the mobile phone is more than just a communication tool; it is an extension of their own identities. Teens also thrive on music as self expression. But who are they listening to? In August, 2008, Pinks latest single “So What”, from fifth album “Funhouse”, leaked online in Australia. Six hours later the track was #1 on Nova 100 Melbourne and on the Today Network’s Hot30 Countdown. It hit #1 on iTunes too, and became her first solo #1 Billboard hit. “Funhouse” debuted at #1 and turned platinum twice. Her Australian Funhouse Tour sold out all 58 shows. It was clear that the target market liked Pink.

Optus needed to reward teens and make them feel appreciated by their mobile operator. Optus put together some consumer rewards – tickets for Pink in concert, signed copies of her album, and chance to meet the start face to face.

Optus took over Australia’s foremost music TV channel, Channel V, for a whole day and coloured it Pink, renaming it temporarily as “Channel Pink”. Optus was the only brand present on the channel for the day, in an exercise that included sponsorship, ads, online and on-air channel branding, promotional spots, e-cards, newsletters and more.

To coincide with Pink’s first show in Sydney, Optus created Pink Day, where Optus and Pink took over the highest-rated radio network, The Today Network. Optus was visible on-air and on the homepages of all Today Network websites too. Pink Radio, a specially created national digital radio station, playing Pink’s favourite music, was heavily promoted across the Today network. Pink TV was a two-hour music show aired in primetime on June 12th across key regions of Australia. Optus secured 3 weeks of pre-show promotion (extensive 15sec pre-promotes, program associations, pull-throughs and 30sec commercials) along with Optus branding within the show itself. The show included music clips from Pink, exclusive Pink interview footage and concert ticket giveaways. Four offerings of fresh content and rewards were created for the pre-paid mobile user. All this was supported by outdoor in key cities, editorial and a critical engagement strategy in social media and IM channels.

The Pink association resulted in achieving 95% unprompted Optus Brand recognition among 18-24s - the highest in Optus history. In other surveys, 62% of micro-site visitors were more than likely to choose Optus in the future. Optus recieved 53,679 SMS/online entries for the ticket promotions and there were 48,823 unique visitors to PINK digital radio, with average site time of 40mins. Optus prepaid mobile activations rose 2% (April-June 2009) but more importantly, it showed a huge drop in churn of 30% following key media activity.