Bell is hoping its new campaign has the “It” factor.
The telco’s latest spot, “The Visitor,” shows a creepy clown tormenting a homeowner, who wakes up in a cold sweat to realize he has to face a far greater fear than Stephen King may have imagined: that his home has cable internet, instead of Bell’s Fibre Internet service.
“It strikes a nerve with people…as you can see from box offices, horror sells,” explains Jason Sweeney, ACD at longtime Bell agency partner Leo Burnett, who tells strategy that in the ISP space, it’s easy to rely on saying things like “we’re the best,” the most reliable, or the fastest, but that after a while it becomes rote.
“You can’t keep driving a simply value message,” Sweeney says, adding that you have to offer viewers something that’s worth sharing.
It’s an “entertainment first” approach, says Leo Burnett ACD Kyle Scotland, one that was developed when Bell advertised Fibre during the Super Bowl, with a family moving into a rental home and experiencing the horror of cable internet.
“[Bell] took a leap of faith on the first spot,” Scotland notes, saying that the brand was more than willing to lean into horror even more so this time around.
According to the latest figures, in the ISP space, Bell is the leader, ahead of second place Rogers. As Scotland says, there is also a sense of confidence that comes from being number one, wherein the brand can tout its unique sales proposition, without having to compare itself with anyone else directly, like a challenger would.
Airing on TV, cinema and digital, the new campaign is also coming to cinemas, where a newly cinematic approach is going to pay dividends, Scotland says.
Media Experts and Bell Media’s internal team handled the buy.
