MANILA – Dentsu Philippines has won creative ad duties for the launch of Skype Qik, a new mobile video messaging app from Microsoft, following a five-way pitch with unnamed agencies, adobo can reveal.
Dentsu will be working with the brand’s telco partner Smart Communications, which entered a zero-rating deal to offer Skype Qik for free to its over 70 million for the next three months.
Targeting 12 to 20 year olds, Skype Qik allows users to message friends as if you’re texting, but using only videos. Even its own emojis are short video clip called “Qik Fliks” that users can record, further separating itself from its namesake which has a fairly text-heavy, desktop-centric user base.
“Skype currently has millions of connected users in the Philippines but most of them are on desktop. As Philippines is a mobile market first, they are not seeing any growth in Skype usage as it is not seen as a mobile product,” Rey Tiempo, executive creative director at Dentsu, explained the brief.
“Most of Skype’s competitors have managed to position themselves as a more mobile friendly service which is causing churn away from Skype. Given this, they developed Qik,” he adds.
Skype Qik just released this 30-second spot to show the app in action – hilariously useful just in case you want to make your friends believe you’ve just seen a hula-dancing Gorilla.
Now imagine that for your next ad campaign.
No longer limited with text and photos, Leveena Sadanandan, Microsoft’s Online Audience Marketing Lead for APAC, invites brands to explore the creative, candid possibilities to engage audience through Skype Qik.
“With the Skype Qik app now enabling spontaneous video messaging for individuals and groups, brands now have new opportunities to reach this captive, influential audience like never before. We are pleased to have found a like-minded partner in Dentsu, who sees the tremendous value Skype Qik can bring to brands, and are looking forward to delighting customers with new and creative opportunities to engage their audiences in Philippines,” she said.
Skype acquired Qik, which was founded in 2006, for US$100 million back in January 2011.
CREDITS
Client: Skype Communications
Agency: Dentsu Philippines
Executive Creative Directors: Rey Tiempo / Gary Amante
Creative Director: Apol Sta. Maria
Senior Copywriter: Jacqueline Rufener
Senior Art Director: Dennis Nierra
Accounts: Titus Arce, JM Miranda
Producers: Leslie Perez, Syd Alcala
Director: Lyle Sacris
Production House: Film Pabrika
Post Production House: Post Manila
