2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Background

How do you continue building a brand during a pandemic? The recent global health crisis got brands wanting to jump into the discussion with messages to ease their audiences’ stress. However, all of these ads ended up looking exactly alike hitting on the same, common place messages: ‘we are facing unprecedented times’, ‘the world has stopped’ and ‘it will be ok eventually’ and ‘we are here for you’. In the end, brands were coming out with ads that were completely disconnected from their own business and ended up looking generic. How could Bose continue building their brand without falling into the sameness trap?

Describe the strategy

From our own experience working from home,we realized in an unexpected and often disruptive way that we were getting to know our neighbours more than ever –by hearing their daily routines through the walls. But trying to work while your neighbor plays the accordion, watches TV, or uses their blender is quite frustrating to say the least. We gave a positive spin to the irritation brought by all these noises, and launched a campaign anchored on a distinctive, unique message for Bose. All these sounds show everyone’s resilient and safe, that life goes on – even when everything is NOT actually ok and until we don’t know when. And in this more realistic but more importantly, positive context, Bose is a brand that is tangibly there for consumers, with its noise cancelling headphones. Bose actively helped customers celebrate the new normal – it didn’t just say ‘we’re holding in there

Describe the execution

We selected YouTube as the best media to share our positive message, taking into account that the pandemic has confined our audience to their homes, meaning they are spending more time than ever online. With an idea fully rooted in Bose’s brand essence and its latest Noise-Cancelling headphones, we wrote a letter from the perspective of one character to all his neighbours, a message of hope in this crisis and encouraging people to #StayNoisy. Despite the fact that they haven’t met physically, the protagonist bonds with his neighbours through the noises they make. The letter thanks everyone who remains close by carrying on with their noisy daily routines. The campaign demonstrated Bose was there to accompany its consumers in this overwhelming moment with a meaningful message: #StayNoisy. The film uses #StayNoisy as a call to action, reminding people to stay home and positive while we get through these tough times

List the results

The film went global and achieved over 50+ million views with a minimal media investment. It generated so much good noise around it that gained USD 2 Million of earned media and 28.5+ clicks in the first 24 hours of being online. It was originally planned to be launched only in the GCC. But due to its great success, Bose also decided to launch it in markets around the globe such as Asia Pacific, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, and the USA. Additionally, it got picked up by NFL players and teams as the film to be played on TV before the upcoming games.