A Competitor's Customers Recorded the Radio Ad for Them / Skinny "Phone It In"

The problem

New Zealand's budget mobile carrier Skinny has a brand promise of "keeping prices low and customers happy." But its TV production budget had shrunk compared to the year before, leaving no way to afford celebrity fees or recording studio costs. Even so, it still needed radio's high reach and credibility. The question was how to show the very attitude of "making ads on a low budget." Colenso BBDO's answer was to outsource the ad production to ordinary members of the public.

The insight

If you spend a lot on advertising, customers end up paying for it one way or another. So if a radio ad could be made for zero production cost, that fact itself becomes the brand message. And by having people record it using a mobile phone, it also answers the brief that "mobile should be at the center of the idea." What's more, in 2023, when user-generated content can feel like an overused tactic, rolling it out in the real world would make it feel fresh again. This paradoxical thinking is what set everything in motion.

The idea

Across 34 locations nationwide, radio ad "scripts" were printed on hundreds of out-of-home ad spaces, along with a free 0800 number. These appeared on the outside walls of strip clubs, in front of law firms, on coffee cups, on bar coasters, after the credits in movie theaters, and in 3am TV ad slots. The script was written differently for each location—for example, the strip club version ended with something like "You might be making some questionable choices in a questionable part of town, but there's no question about Skinny's prices and network." Calling the number connected you to an automated answering machine, where you simply read the script aloud. The recorded voices were then given Skinny's sound logo and broadcast on the radio. Zero production cost, every voice an amateur, with real ambient sound in the background.

What happened

2,560 radio ads were recorded, adding up to 22 hours of content in total. The campaign reached 77% of New Zealanders. 65% of the people who recorded ads were customers of competitors. Customer acquisition rose 34% year on year, while churn dropped 26%. Brand consideration had only risen 6% over the previous three years, but this campaign lifted it by 6% in just two months. It won the Radio & Audio Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2023, and Colenso BBDO was named Pacific Agency of the Year. It also won a CMO Pencil at The One Show, plus the Spikes Asia Grand Prix and six Golds at the Axis Awards, among other international honors.

Afterthought

What really got me was the fact that a competitor's own customers were the ones who recorded the ads. It's a reminder of something obvious but easy to forget: advertising can pull people in like this. Instead of making excuses for having no budget, they turned it into a weapon. They used mobile phones. They changed the script for every location. Every part of it made sense, every part of it looked fun, every part of it felt honest. That's exactly why more than 2,500 people picked up the phone and called. I don't think the Grand Prix was a "reward"—I think it was inevitable. I'd love to do work like this someday.

Awards

• Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2023

Featured in

• Putting 'We're Broke' Right at the Center of the IdeaSix ads that turned a shortfall into the raw material itself

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