O2 Stare Out
O2
Issue 5 | July 2008
Agency
archibald ingall stretton…
Creative Team
Geoff Gower and Kristian Foy
Production Team
Jon Biggs - Design;Mark Griffin - Code
Other Credits
Dannika Coleman - Account Handler
Date
August 2007 - ongoing
Background
O2 has been promoting its support for the England Rugby Team with a highly emotive above the line campaign, Never Surrender, that illustrates the national pride and passion of the team and fans alike. The aim of this campaign was to raise awareness amongst O2's customers and the wider public of the Rugby sponsorship. It was imperative that the campaign stayed true to the 'Never Surrender' thought and really got customers close to the players.
Idea
In trying to create a challenging rugby viral game that demonstrated England's 'Never Surrender' attitude, insights into the game led the strategy towards the importance of eye contact on the pitch. It's a massive part of rugby. Eye contact is a psychological weapon that is as important as any big tackle. The best players can look you in the eye and know they've already won half the battle. Their steely eyes will never say 'I've given up'.
The creative leap was to have an online stare out competition. O2 Stare Out lets the large base of O2 customers who are rugby fans front up and challenge three England players to an eye-watering challenge. In true O2 style, the idea taps into the psyche of a proper rugby fan. O2 Stare Out allows him (or her) to come face to face with England's rugby stars - and interact with them, and the O2 brand, in a completely new, but extremely relevant, way. The game, the first of its type to use a webcam, is hosted on the blueroom, a website for O2 customers - http://www.o2stareout.com. See if you can beat England's Mike Tindall, who can go 6.5 minutes without blinking...
Results
More than 100,000 visitors have played the game or watched one of the films made on the day.
Target Audience
O2 customers
Our Thoughts
I’m a rugby nut and managed to get to both the semi-finals and the final match of the rugby world cup so I was likely to have been interested in this idea even if it was rubbish. Which it isn’t. The only misfortune is that Mike Tindall never got to France because of injury though he is the toughest to out-stare of all the England players.