Revive a brand and launch a smartphone – all in a day’s work

Howorth successfully orchestrated Motorola’s Australian comeback, with the PR launch of its new range of Android powered smart-phone devices. Howorth’s objectives?  Simple – create mass-market interest across consumer and technology media, reaching out to consumers looking for a new smart-phone.

Insight

Differentiating a phone from the pack can be difficult, but Motorola’s new Android range of smart-phones held one key ingredient , MOTOBLUR – the first mobile experience to deliver your social life straight to your mobile phone, streaming conversations, friends and widgets right into your handset to provide a never-ending flow of updates.

We understood that the media would need to try out the phone themselves to get the full effect of the MOTOBLUR package, so they could appreciate first-hand how it could link their lives via the web.  As a result, Howorth’s PR strategy was designed to ensure media had maximum exposure to the MOTOBLUR experience – from one-on-one demos and the opportunity to take handsets for review, to a fully immersive and interactive launch.

Creative idea, relentless execution

Rebuilding a brand and restoring consumer confidence is no small feat. Howorth held 12 one to one briefings and handset demonstrations in the lead-up to the event, with outlets handpicked to ensure a wide depth of coverage on launch day.   Media were enticed to explore MOTOBLUR before its official launch included the Daily Telegraph, Sydney Morning Herald, Channel 7, Channel 9, T3, Grazia and Women’s Health.

The focus then switched to the event itself.  Taking over the Cargo Hall at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, MOTOBLUR’s features were unveiled through stunning visuals presented on a mammoth concave screen: embracing our presenters to showcase social streaming as life in motion, a network surrounding us in all that we do.

Outcomes

On the day of launch, Motorola and Optus spokespeople conducted one to one media briefings at the event with key influencers The Australian, iTNews and iTWire.

These interviews, plus our strategic warm-up prior to the event, generated more than 100 pieces of coverage across metropolitan, consumer, technology and business media (print, broadcast and online).  Highlights to date include a demonstration on Channel 9’s Today show, the front page of Australian T3, and pick-up across a range of specialist outlets like Gizmodo, ITnews.com.au, Good Gear Guide, Zoo Weekly, Smarthouse, iTWire.com.au, CNET Australia and GadgetGuy.com.au.

Motorola rocks Australia with exclusive Silverchair gig

Howorth helped Motorola officially rock Australia, developing a major buzz campaign to launch its exciting Artist of the Month program.

Kicking off with an exclusive live gig for over 1,000 of Sydney’s hippest VIPs, fans and industry fanatics with Silverchair – the nation’s most popular chart topping band, the campaign achieved:

• Extensive pre and post-coverage hype reaching more than 13 million Australians across news, music lift-outs and social pages, including print media; SMH, The Sun Herald, The Daily Telegraph, The Courier Mail, The Newcastle Herald, 3DWorld, The Brag. TV; Channel 10’s Video Hits and MTV. Radio; FBI radio. Online media; ninemsn, news.com.au, The Music, Fasterlouder, PopRepublic, suburbanforce.com.au, musichead.com.au, mediasearch.com.au

• Strategic brand positioning for Motorola’s new Artist of the Month program via engagement with key influencers.

Campaign key steps

• Targeted giveaways in TV, major metropolitan newspapers, online and street press – promoting the Silverchair AOTM event, and leveraging the Artist of the Month website
• Influencer engagement and seeding program
• Extensive media outreach campaign covering Australia’s top rating music TV and radio programs, major newspapers and online sites
• Unique mobile downloads of Silverchair content for 3 mobile customers via Motorola’s Artist of the Month Program
• In-store promotion with 3 mobile, to win tickets to attend the exclusive album launch.

Media and influencers commented that:

• “The event was a delicious delight for sight and sound. A stellar venue for one of Australia’s best bands. Young Modern in on high rotation!” ~ Alex Thompson, InStyle Magazine ~

• “In short, the night ROCKED. The whole event was really well orchestrated and made guests feel we were part of something very special.” ~ Emma Vidgen, New Woman Magazine ~

Luxury phone gets style-setting kick off

To launch Motorola’s new MOTORAZR2 V8 Luxury Edition phone and re-establish the company’s position as Australia’s ‘must-have’ designer mobile phone brand, Howorth utlised global brand ambassador, David Beckham, and a four pronged media strategy.

The campaign quadrupled target expectations:

• A whopping reach of over 34 million Australians was achieved within just two weeks
• More than 100 media hits across TV, radio, online and print
• A complete sell-through of stock within two months!

Having been allocated just one hour of the star’s time, Howorth’s strategy maximised the star’s appeal, but controlled access and messaging around the celebrity. This helped ensure positive pick-up around the product.

Campaign outline
Key steps:

• Pre-launch buzz created through media partnerships with Australia’s top radio, print and TV media including Nova, mX and The Morning Show
• An exclusive Sydney high-octane VIP meet-and-greet
• Exclusive press conference
• National media alerted via a digital news release to ensure widespread coverage.

The campaign was delivered within a three-month timeframe and on budget, yet sustained buzz for months following. The coverage from the launch and MOTRAZR 2 V8 Lux still generated talk and coverage up to one year later.

Beckham, an international football star and world-leading style icon, was in Australia to play for his team, LA Galaxy FC.

Stephen Amiet, National Marketing Manager, Motorola Mobile Devices, said:

“Howorth delivered an awesome campaign and the results are an amazing testament to the creativity, professionalism and superior organisational skills of the Howorth team.

“Our international guests, friends at Optus and attending media commented that it was one of the smoothest product launches they have ever attended.

“We could not have been happier, especially in relation to the way the positive coverage and reviews of the V8 Lux phone led to sell through of the product at retail.

“It was great to see the story covered in the evening news on every commercial TV station and on the front page of MX that afternoon. We wanted to stop traffic…and George St was mayhem!”

GRAND SLAM: Maria Sharapova launches Motorola S705 Bluetooth MP3 Player

With the Australian Open in full swing, Howorth leveraged Motorola’s association with top ranking women’s tennis player, Maria Sharapova, to generate buzz and excitement around the launch of the new SoundPilot S705.

Campaign highlights:

• Exclusive interview on Channel 7’s Today Tonight with Maria Sharapova demonstrating the Motorola Soundpilot against a backdrop Motorola’s pink batwing branding. The interview reached a national audience of over 1.4 million viewers
• National and online coverage on Channel 10’s Sports Tonight, The Age, Herald Sun, The Australian and news.com.au
• Media coverage syndicated internationally to more than 75 countries.

Campaign key steps:

• Exclusive invite-only media event attended by more than 40 media, including TV, print, radio and online news at Crown Towers in Melbourne. The active lifestyle themed event, featured a hosted Q&A session with Maria Sharapova
• Pre-placed promotions with top rating media offering signed Motorola merchandise
• Extensive product review and media outreach program.