UK company Everything Everywhere, aka EE have tapped into the collective consciousness of the ‘Six degrees of Kevin Bacon’ phenomena to sell the UK’s first super fast 4G mobile network and fibre broadband service.
EE is the lovechild of carriers Orange and T-Mobile, and as such is still defining a brand story of its very own. Launched on October 31 2012 and worth an estimated £100m, EE are currently pursuing a very agressive marketing strategy to push the new company into a competitive market.
Advertising greats Saatchi and Saatchi were trusted with multi-million pounds to create a tv ad campaign starring the man Kevin Bacon himself, who shows how he is connected to everything and everyone in the world. By leveraging the existing phenomena, the campaign is able to gain immediate cut-through with a minimum of explanation and maximum understanding in how EE connects people with the world and each other.
“Hey, I’m Kevin Bacon,” says the actor in the opening of the ad. “Star of A Few Good Men, Tremors, Footloose… But I’m not here to talk about Kevin Bacon: Hollywood A-Lister, I’m here to talk about Kevin Bacon: Centre of the Universe.”
With 5 different tv ads and the campaign being fully integrated with social media plus outdoor and cinema advertising, we’re sure the connectivity brand story EE is sharing will be immediately understood in a friendly and humorous way.
So, now presumably we have two networks to reach Kevin Bacon directly – the Six Degrees model, and via EE. Where we can have all the Bacon we want.
Well played, EE. Well played.
Campaign details:
Copywriter: Rob Potts. Art Director: Andy Jex. Director: Ringan Ledwidge for Rattling Stick.
Social and digital elements by Poke. Publicis Chemistry for direct mail, retail and some digital communications. MEC for media planning and buying.
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