LINEモバイル | 愛と革新。 | 2017
The power of saying nothing / LINE Mobile "Ai to Kakushin. Debut"
45 seconds of Non staring silently at the camera. Kirinji's "Aliens" plays, and at the end only the words "Love and Innovation." appear. It never says the service is cheap. There's nothing else it needs to say, and that's exactly the point.
The problem
LINE Mobile launched as an MVNO in September 2016. After spending half a year refining the service, they started airing this commercial in March 2017, right when the telecom industry gets loudest. They set up same-day sign-up counters in electronics stores, working mass advertising and a real reason to sign up at the same time.
The insight
In an age where specs alone can't set you apart, they chose to compete on philosophy instead. Copywriter Reiko Kojima condensed the brand's two pillars—"simple" and "challenger"—into the single line "Love and Innovation." The commercial exists purely to deliver that line.
The idea
Non, in a white shirt, holds her phone and looks straight into the camera. Only two pieces of information appear: "Unlimited LINE and SNS from ¥1,110~" and "Love and Innovation." The choice of Kirinji's song was also a deliberate move to build the brand's cool, composed atmosphere.
What happened
At the 2017 ACC TOKYO CREATIVITY AWARDS Film category, both the "Debut" and "Intersection" films won Gold.
Afterthought
I bet in the planning meetings, someone said, "Shouldn't we at least say it's cheaper?" But they cut that out, cut it down further, and bet everything on casting and copy alone. And it became a talking point anyway—proof that this approach can move at least some people. By the way, even within the same "Love and Innovation." series, I don't think the later "song" edition landed nearly as well.
