T-MOBILE | Welcome Home | 2011
What Was Waiting at the Airport Was 300 Voices Singing / T-Mobile "Welcome Home"
In 2010, at the arrivals hall of Heathrow Airport, tired passengers walked out to find 300 people suddenly bursting into song. A choir that recreated even the sound of instruments using only their voices turned the cold, impersonal arrivals hall into a celebration in an instant.
The problem
At the time, T-Mobile had slipped to fourth place in the UK market. The recession had dragged down mobile phone usage, and price-focused advertising had stopped working. Under the brand refresh "Life's for Sharing," this was planned as the third installment in a series that began with the 2009 flash mob "Dance."
The insight
Rather than just another flash mob, this was designed as an emotional "Punk'd moment." The idea was that when people talk about their phones, what they love is being able to share the unexpected things that happen in everyday life. That feeling was layered onto one of the most emotionally charged places there is at Christmastime: the airport.
The idea
The choir performed a medley of songs about travel and coming home, including Etta James's "At Last." 18 hidden cameras captured passengers' genuine reactions, the footage was edited within 48 hours, and it aired Friday night at the start of every program slot.
What happened
The ad was named the United Kingdom's 2011 commercial of the year. Across the whole series, sales rose 52% year over year, and the campaign brought in 143,000 new customers.
Afterthought
Long-awaited reunions, lonely returns home alone, the exhaustion of a business trip — everyone walks out of that arrivals hall carrying something. To hand them a sung "welcome home" right there is an incredibly powerful thing to do. Someone is waiting for you where you've come back to. This time, it was an ad that did the waiting.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2011
