ASIA-PACIFIC, July 12, 2103 – Energy BBDO Shanghai promoted the local version of the internationally-renowned magazine, Time Out, by intentionally leaving a phone on a random street for any passer-by to pick up. Once someone did, a text message flashed on the screen to “Get in the London cab that just pulled up.”
The cab, a nod to Time Out’s London roots, drove around the city, taking the phone snatchers to places they could have not discovered on their own. These stops included: Homies, a tiny American-style hole-in-the-wall breakfast joint; a vintage film collector who shows movies in the back room of a local store; UltraViolet, an unmarked restaurant where each course is served with customized wall projections, scents and soundtracks; the Peace Hotel Jazz Bar, where Jazz music first came to Communist China, and where the same band (now in their 80’s) play weekly; Shouning Lu, a street food market loved by locals; and a private table at Bar Rogue, one of Shanghai’s most exclusive nightclubs along the Bund.
The campaign was called the “Stolen Phone Tour” and pictures were taken by hidden cameras stationed at each stop. The only communication was through text messages on the phone.
“The Stolen Phone Tour is a brilliant idea that allowed us to not just say what we’re about, but to actually demonstrate it,” said Jake Newby, Time Out Shanghai editor.
This campaign marked the first partnership between Time Out Shanghai and Energy BBDO. “At Energy BBDO Shanghai, we work with clients who don’t have the budget to be boring. The Stolen Phone Tour highlights Time Out’s strengths as well as our agency’s approach to promoting brands” remarked regional account director James Drummond.
