Carpe Diem - It Means Grab the Frisbee

As a means of highlighting their innovative and exciting technology, O2 launched a “Be more dog” campaign. The premise for this was that a cat, stereotyped as boring and lazy, takes on the attitude of an excitable and motivated dog. O2 tell the tale of this cat’s attitude change on everything from sticks to chasing cars. The lasting message for us all is to “Be more dog”, with O2 inviting you to their website.

One of the major features on their website is for visitors to connect their smart phones or tablets to the website. Once synced, throwing a Frisbee from your handheld device flies to your desktop or laptop, whereby the cat runs and catches the Frisbee.  Firstly, O2 are demonstrating their innovative technology through something relatively unused before. Secondly, they are actively engaging the customer in their product.

Figure 1. The code to link your smart device.

Figure 2. The cat catching Frisbee thrown from your device.

This an example of an interactive experiment template, outlined by Goldenberg, Mazursky and Solomon (1999). Under this template, one type of interaction is an activation version. Here they state that the customer is required to undertake a task in order for the message of the advert to be conveyed. Goldenberg, Mazursky and Solomon (1999) argue two components are essential for the advert to be effective, whereby the action required is physical and it is executable on the spot.

It is clear that this campaign by O2 facilitates both. Customers are provided with the opportunity to physically experiment with new technology on the spot, illustrating how easy it is to sync devices. O2 round off the advert with a series of implications for this technology which leaves you wanting more, such as controlling your heating remotely.

Goldenberg, J., Mazursky, D. & Solomon, S. (1999). The fundamental templates of quality ads. Marketing Science, 18, 333-351.