AT&T's cell phone division gave us two objectives: to publicize the new Video Share (video messaging) feature on their phones, and to establish a sponsorship which would be DVR fast-forward proof against viewers.
People used to hauling out the video camera to capture family moments, with AT&T they could capture them on the fly.
Since we were launching a new phone messaging feature, text messaging seemed to be the ideal way to generate awareness with consumers. People engage with text messaging as a way to keep in touch with their families and we could tap into this to promote video messaging. Our previous experience with AT&T's sponsorship of American Idol suggested that a similar show, featuring a text voting system, would provide an ideal way to achieve both our objective
We identified the next American Idol and tied up a season-long voting sponsorship deal with the hit reality TV show, Dancing with the Stars. The deal gave AT&T three forms of visibility: through onscreen voting reminders, by sponsoring online voting on the Dancing with the Stars website, and by delivering exclusive show content to their wireless customers.
The onscreen voting reminders are DVR-proof because they stay on screen while the contestants are performing. AT&T's association with the voting process also helped to consolidate its position as a leader in text voting integration. For video messaging, we made a commercial featuring one of the show's most high profile celebrities using his cell phone to video-share with his young son. This helped to reinforce the AT&T message that video messaging is about ‘connecting family moments'.