The Great Conspiracy
The Warehouse
Issue 7 | July 2008
Agency
Aim Proximity New Zealand
Creative Team
Dave King – Creative Director;Dan Fastenedge – Art Director;Michelle Rajalingham – Copywriter;Aaron Goldring – Head of Interactive Art;Jason Vertongen – Senior Interactive Designer;Shanan Goldring – Senior Interactive Designer;Cameron Crosby - Interactive Designer;Jose Alomajan – Digital Strategist;Andrew Simpson – Senior Digital Producer
Production Team
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Date
February 2008
Background
The objective was to make the young men of New Zealand aware of The Warehouse’s website (The Warehouse sells cheap items of all kinds).
Idea
Valentine’s Day can be an expensive time of year for guys. So the agency’s idea was to appeal to them by telling them how they could impress their girlfriends without spending a cent. On their website, accessed by answering questions only guys would know (e.g. ‘What is the fastest car in the world?’ ‘Who captained the 2007 All Blacks team?’), The Warehouse explained that they were organising to fly a plane over various New Zealand cities with a romantic message trailing behind it.
They then explained how the guys could take credit for it, and convince each of their loved ones that they did it just for her. They revealed exactly when and where the plane would appear, ensuring the guys would look like romantic heroes when their sweethearts looked up and saw the lengths each one had gone to to express his love. Men could register to vote for the message and the location of the fly-over, or simply take credit for other people’s choices, by turning up at the right time and place on the day.
Results
Many guys discovered The Warehouse’s website for the first time. The website boasted over 44,000 page-views with a 77% click-through rate. Over 8,000 people visited the site and it was voted ‘site of the day’ by Adobe. On Valentine’s Day, the stunt got over $200,000 worth of publicity with coverage on bFM, ZM and the Edge, as well as in the local papers. And thousands of guys got luckier than they could have imagined.
Our Thoughts
If this campaign doesn’t win awards it will be because jurors think it’s too similar to the NZ Girl campaign of two years ago when they flew a plane over a rock concert bearing the legend: Scott Kelly has a small dick. It flew back half an hour later towing a banner that read: Don’t mess with NZ Girls. But actually, this is a very different (though very funny) idea. It just happens to use the same medium – of a plane and a banner. I hope it wins prizes.