Campaign: Verizon Wireless Storm Hunt
Client: Verizon Wireless
Agency: Momentum Worldwide
To build buzz around the launch of the Blackberry Storm, a new touch-screen handset on the Verizon Wireless network, Momentum opted for a scavenger hunt with mobile as the primary entry channel. The agency placed 45 Storms in highly visible “product glorifiers” around Manhattan, most in locations such as boutiques, restaurants, coffee shops and art galleries. Four were placed in iconic New York locations: the Port Authority bus station, South Street Seaport, the Times Square visitor center and Trump Tower.
Each displayed handset had a unique keyword that players could text to a short code to be entered into daily prize drawings: five free Storms a day for the course of the 10-day campaign. When players messaged that keyword in, they received a return message that confirmed their entry and gave them the location of another nearby Storm to let them continue their hunt. Players could send in each of the 45 keywords once a day. The game also offered prizes for the first 50 players to send in five valid keywords and the first 20 to submit 10.
A “Storm Hunt” microsite housed within the existing Storm home page on the Verizon Wireless site gave an overview of the promotion, a map with hints and a link to Google Maps, along with prizes, online entry form and rules.
The campaign was successful in building buzz; Storm set records for a Verizon product launch, with more than 1 million units sold in the first six weeks. “Storm Hunt” garnered more than 4,500 unique mobile players and averaged more than 950 players per day, who sent an average of 15,000 text messages daily.
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