New Zealand telco, 2degrees, is known in its home country for its mobile service. It also provides broadband, but this is one of New Zealand’s great secrets. Two out of three Kiwis don’t know about it. 2degrees would obviously like its “secret” to be revealed – as widely as possible. So TBWA\Group NZ has recruited New Zealand’s well-known funnyman, Rhys Darby, who launched 2degrees a decade ago, to do that.
The campaign’s hero film is irresistibly silly, the stuff that internet memes are made of – a pun in which Darby helps 2degrees broadband to make sense by creating the scents of the internet. Darby will release a candle a week for seven weeks unveiling a new scent from the far reaches of the internet each time. Each candle is a wax bust of Rhys himself and Kiwis are able to register to obtain the “scent of the internet” candles.
The campaign is running for twelve weeks across TV, digital, out of home, in-store and social.
Shane Bradnick, chief creative officer, TBWA\Group NZ commented, “TBWA launched 2degrees with the much-loved Rhys commercials 10 years ago, helping make 2degrees one of New Zealand’s favourite brands. While 2degrees started out making prepay fairer, over the years they have bought their Fight for Fair to all telco offerings – including business and broadband. So it wasn’t fair that so few Kiwis knew about 2degrees Broadband and there was only one guy who could help us fix this – so we are bringing Rhys back one last time.
“Rhys was a good sport throughout the whole campaign, bringing his classic 2degrees humour and even letting us 3D scan his head at his LA home, so his unique range of 2degrees internet scented candles can be offered to all of New Zealand. There’s nothing like a pun to help lighten New Zealand’s mood and no one else who could deliver it quite like this. It just made scents to us.
“It’s a silly campaign but the world needs silly campaigns right now.”
Ben Wheeler, chief brand and insights officer for 2degrees, added, “We reckon 2degrees and our brand are the only telco that could get away with this sort of campaign. The humour is refreshing and much needed, so we hope customers will have a laugh.
“2degrees has always been the challenger brand that never took itself too seriously and through the Fighting for Fair platform and this new campaign we’ve been able to recapture that in a way that demonstrates how our business has grown. Our Broadband isn’t just fair for all Kiwi’s, we reckon it smells the best too. 2degrees and broadband, it just makes scents.”
Credits:
Agency: TBWA\Group NZ
Production: Eight
Audio: Franklin Road Audio
Media Agency: IKON
PR Agency: Porter Novelli
Production Company: Eight Director: Steve Saussey
Client: 2degrees
