It has been a long time since young people picked up the phone and talked. The first serial texters were Millennials. But internet and mobile provider, One New Zealand, and McCann New Zealand understand the advantages of talking, and they’ve targeted the newest generation of perpetual texters, Gen Z. Their campaign, Misinterpreted, highlights the ambiguity of texting and encourages Kiwis to get connected the old school way – by picking up the phone. 

The campaign confronts changing social norms and generational divides. With researching showing that 25% aged 18-34 never answer the phone, 70% prefer text, and 81% feel anxious about calling, McCann took the opportunity to invite Kiwis to rediscover the value of a traditional phone call. 

The campaign creative highlights the texts, emojis, and phrases we use every day, exposing the wildly different meanings they can carry – from an unembellished thumbs up or brutal ‘k’, to the confusing ‘all good if not’ or generationally divisive ‘dying’ (do they need an ambulance, or have you just told a great joke?). 

Misinterpreted’s message, that tone and context can be lost in a message so we’re often left guessing (but you always know with a call), is communicated in simple OOH and print executions. 

Alan Jones & Angelo An, group creative directors at McCann New Zealand, commented, “Messaging is a minefield. The strength of this campaign is that we’ve all been there, and everyone has their own examples. Thinking someone’s angry when they’re not. Thinking someone isn’t angry when they are. Or learning that your go-to thumbs-up emoji is terrifying your younger co-workers. Yep… it’s better to just call.”

Georgia Mahaffie, general manager brand & marketing at One New Zealand, added, “We’ve all stared at a text message and thought, ‘What does that mean?’ And apparently even a thumbs up can get you into trouble these days. That’s what I love about this work. It’s simple, it’s topical and it makes the point without taking itself too seriously. ‘Let’s Get Connected’ is ultimately about bringing people together — and sometimes the best way to do that is still just to pick up the phone.”