Goal
Speak the target’s very to-the-point language. And go where they couldn’t avoid hearing it. That’s what Cossette Media decided to do for the launch of Bell’s 10-4 campaign last
March. Targeting a walkie-talkie service to a very specific group, the agency managed to make the mediums as exciting as
the message.
Target consumer
‘Our target was businesses of all sizes, with a particular emphasis on transportation, construction, and white collar workers,’ says Amy Dawson, media supervisor on the account. ‘Men weren’t the specific target we focused on, however some of these industries are naturally more skewed to men.
‘We wanted to reach the target who are busy at work, don’t have time to chat and could benefit from the 10-4 service.’
Consumer insight/characteristics
* Research revealed that walkie-talkie users have their own language. 10-4 talk is not conversational, but abbreviated and to the point. From this, the agency constructed the media plan around the key target insight – ‘When you don’t have time to chat. Talk 10-4.’
Media touch points
* OOH at the work environments of transportation, white-collar and construction workers
* Print and radio spots and location domination at Toronto’s BCE Place and Montreal’s Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport
Execution
Areas where the target would be too busy to chat, like construction sites, were scouted to identify unique and surprising media executions.
In selecting sites, Cossette took into account factors such as height, structure, visibility, proximity to high-traffic areas, stage of project completion. Where none existed, they worked with suppliers to create them.
The results included column wraps in the PET airport and construction crane advertising. For construction workers, the campaign included lunch trucks and construction hoarding dominations.
White-collar employees were reached through BCE Place domination in Toronto, elevator wraps/screens, and parking garage ads. Meanwhile, for transportation workers, a mix of 53-ft. truck wraps, a GO commuter train wrap and highway superboards were used.
Results
* The campaign exceeded expectations within the first
few weeks
* 58% of the campaign’s target was achieved within the first three months
Credits
Cossette Media
Katie Wolf, group media manager
Amy Dawson, media supervisor
Maria Chiarella, media planner
Cossette B2B
Dawn Whiteman,
group account director
Gillian Muise,
senior account supervisor
Blitz Marketing
Roehl Sanchez, VP/CD
Diane Gagne, copywriter
Cecilia Barry, copywriter
Noel Naguiat, art director
Bell Mobility
Linda Hechtl,
associate director,
marketing communications
CLIENTS GET BOLD – Amy Dawson, media supervisor, Cossette Media
Sure, it’s a hackneyed phrase but the media truly became part of the message for this Bell Mobility campaign.
‘We analyzed each of the work environments to come up with some new and interesting executions for this campaign,’ says Dawson in explaining how she and her team devised the unique OOH placements. ‘With a large construction site right outside our window, we had a first-hand look at reaching this industry with the 10-4 message,’ she jokes.
Even after just five years in the industry (she graduated from Hamilton, Ont.-based Mohawk College’s media program and was lucky enough to be hired on at Cossette, where she had a placement) Dawson says that she’s noticed a change in the willingness of marketers to take chances with their media executions. The folks at Bell, her main client, had little resistance to the idea of using the construction crane, for example, as a media outlet.
‘Every client now wants to do something new and exciting and build that into their media plans,’ she says. ‘Bell wanted a bold launch.’ Interestingly most of the reluctance came from an unexpected source. ‘We did have a hard time finding suppliers that could execute a few tactics. There were other ideas on the table that we weren’t able to bring to life. Maybe in another campaign,’ she says.
