Vodafone brings back the 'BlackBerry Boys'

Conceptualised by Ogilvy, the storyline of the second version of 'BB Boys' shows them in a depressed mood primarily because their Blackberry world is no longer an exclusive preserve

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Vodafone brings back the 'BlackBerry Boys'

Vodafone brings back the 'BlackBerry Boys'

Conceptualised by Ogilvy, the storyline of the second version of 'BB Boys' shows them in a depressed mood primarily because their Blackberry world is no longer an exclusive preserve

Neha Saraiya | Delhi | March 19, 2012

publive-imageRemember the bunch of five office-goers clad in shiny suits and cool shoes claiming their smartness by singing 'We're the BlackBerry Boys' in Vodafone's BlackBerry campaign in 2010?  They are back, but in a depressed and sombre mood this time! The reason is the intrusion in their unique and restricted world of BlackBerry by the younger lot.

The 120-second TVC conceptualised by Vodafone's long-standing agency, Ogilvy & Mather, is the second version of the popular 'BB Boys' film. The film begins with the same cluster of five BB Boys expressing their grief and frustration because of the transformation that has taken place since their previous campaign. While the previous film focussed on how special they were because of their unique BlackBerry facilities, the current campaign depicts the dominance of youth over the BB Boys in terms of the youth usage patterns of the device. For instance, the Gen-Next not only chats through BlackBerry Messenger but also shares pictures, music, gossip and even takes the BB to pubs, malls, college – and not just the workplace.

Besides the expressional message, the campaign also reflects how every customer can proudly own a Blackberry with a pocket friendly plan providing subscribers the flexibility to choose from daily and monthly plans priced as low as Rs 5 and Rs 129, respectively.

Talking about the objective of the campaign, Anuradha Aggarwal, Senior VP - Brand, Consumer Insight and Communication, Vodafone India, said, “We are constantly on the lookout to provide innovative experiences to our valued customers. The objective of our campaign is to increase the appeal of Blackberry services on Vodafone to a larger audience with special emphasis on the younger generation. Blackberry Messenger is extremely popular among our young customers and our aim is to enable this generation to get the most out of their Blackberry services at affordable prices.”

While the maiden BB Boys campaign attempted to break the myth of the device being synonymous with the corporate only and extend its appeal among students as well, the current film moves a step ahead. Explaining the difference in the new campaign, Kapil Arora, Country Head – Team Vodafone, Ogilvy & Mather, said, “BB Boys is one of the advertising campaigns that has done very well with audiences and that is why we decided to bring it back. In this case, it stands different as they are complaining to the world juxtaposed to the last time when they were singing and having fun with themselves. This time they have realised what is happening and they are not very happy with it.”

The film is a music video which is a classic 'Boys to men' or 'Backstreet boys' kind of slow ballet format with lyrics like “Baby, how could you do this, I thought it was going to be just us, but they took BBM everywhere....”. Composed by Mikey, the song is a progression of the last film with a subtle tone.

However, recreating a popular campaign was not a cakewalk for the creative team at Ogilvy. As Rajiv Rao, National Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather, said, “It took us over two weeks to write the lyrics of the song as we had to re-tune and change it every now and then. The reason is because it's such a memorable ad and a strong property that consumers associate with the characters deeply.”

The TVC will be supported by a heavy online campaign along with mass media. It will be also released in a shorter version of 135 and 60 seconds.

The TVC:

The lyrics:

Baby, how could you do this

I thought it was going to be just us,
But they took BBM everywhere
To the campus, to the nightclub and too the mall.
My suit is still cool
Got shine on my shoes
But they are the BlackBerry Boys
They Exchange pins
From Morning to Evening
Oh yeah they are the BlackBerry Boys
We used to Chat
But they do much more
Setting their status
Sending pictures all on the move
They are the BlackBerry Boys
Oh yeah they are the BlackBerry Boys
They use it for dating
It's a work thing not a play thing
They are the Blackberry boys
They share music and videos and gossip
Oh yeah they are the BlackBerry Boys
We used to chat
But they do much more
Setting their status
Setting pictures all on the move
They are BlackBerry Boys
Oh yeah they are the BlackBerry Boys


Credits:

Client: Vodafone India

Agency: Ogilvy & Mather (Mumbai)

National Creative Director: Rajiv Rao

Country Head - Team Vodafone: Kapil Arora

Sr. Creative Directors: Srreram Athray and Elizabeth Dias

Account Management: Sarang Wahal, Chatak Vakharia, Rohan Manglani

Production house: Nirvana Films

Director: Prakash Varma

Neha@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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