Boost Mobile taps into Gen Y’s desire for freedom in new ‘Stay Living’ campaign via The Monkeys
Boost Mobile, via The Monkeys, is shaking up the prepaid category with ‘Stay Living’, a campaign designed to tap into Gen Y’s desire for freedom and their fear of becoming zombies who are suffocated by stifling rules and regulations – like being locked into confusing mobile phone contracts.
‘Stay Living’ is a highly targeted campaign designed to drive uptake of Boost Mobile’s $40 UNLTD prepaid plans.
The campaign follows a group of friends who ‘Stay Living’ through a zombie apocalypse, fighting off the zombies they don’t want to become and staying connected via their Boost Mobile phones.
Says Micah Walker, executive creative director at The Monkeys: “Boost is a brand that ultimately believes in freedom and non-conformity. And with this campaign, we really wanted to engage the audience with a series of offers that played to that belief, and did so in an unexpected way.
“This idea of ‘Stay Living’ is obviously a point of view on the world, but rather than hold a mirror up to reflect reality we wanted to wrap it all up in a story that was entertaining and unconventional. Standing against a world of zombies just made sense.”
The ‘Stay Living’ campaign extends from TV, online films and point-of-sale to social media promotions, DM and sampling, and centres around three short films shot in Sydney and directed by The Glue Society’s Matt Devine through Revolver.
As part of a targeted blogger outreach strategy, the films feature three popular bloggers including Kimmi Smiles, a zombie-loving 21 year-old who has almost 168,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel, and Louna Maroun, a vlogger with more than 50,000 followers. The campaign has also been integrated with a solid PR strategy to further bring it to life. Led by Magnum PR, several targeted tactics will be implemented from teasers to news generation polls.
Says Paul O’Neile, Boost Mobile CEO: “At Boost Mobile, we believe your mobile phone contract shouldn’t burden your life or make you feel trapped. Our ‘Stay Living’ campaign represents young Boost Mobile customers as the champions of the living, and represents the battle between living a fulfilling, free and exciting life and being a slave to conformity and phone contracts.”
Boost: Stay Living
Boost CEO: Paul O’Neile
General Manager: Business Development – Anthony Torr
Customer Experience Manager: Tina Cleary
Agency: The Monkeys
Chief Creative officer: Justin Drape
Executive Creative Director: Micah Walker
Digital Creative Director: Jay Gelardi
Art Director: Oksana Valentelis
Copywriter: Henry Kember
Head of Broadcast Production: Thea Carone
Broadcast Producer: Jade Wannell
Executive Planning Director: Fabio Buresti
Channel Planner: Mat Rawnsley
Senior Engagement Planner: Rachel Maughan
Social Media Strategist: Matt Abet
Director of Client Services: Dan Beaumont
Content Director: Gini Sinclair
Content Manager: Anthony Campagna
Production Company: Revolver
Director – The Glue Society: Matt Devine
Executive Producer/Managing Director: Michael Ritchie
Producer: Adrian Shapiro
Editing: Dan Lee / Editors
VFX Supervisor: Nicholas Ponzoni, Fin Design
Composers & Sound Design: Nylon
Saffron & Jen Film: Nicky Routledge
Ben Film: Christopher Kelaart
Mary Film: Son Of Kick
PR Agency: Magnum PR
Print Credits:
Photographer: Ingvar Kenne
Photo production: The Pool Collective
Retouching: Outpost
Art Buyer: Meghan Petersen
Designer: John-Scott McClure
21 Comments
Right after Fallon released their Zombie campaign.
What a bummer for the monkeys, this is pretty good, although I’m not getting the strategy in the take out. A bit too much icing and not enough cake.
What’s not to love about hot lesbians in leather hotpants offing zombies. Nicely shot too. Agree that there is a bit of a stretch strategy wise but the yoof target market aren’t going to give a shit. They’ll remember the shit out of the brand which is a helluva a lot cooler than the big 3. Well done ya dirty little butt monkeys.
Okay, sure, everyone’s going to say ‘zombies have been done before’. But man they’re done well here. Considering the category right now, and this audience, this is going to cut through like a muthafucka.
Damn son, Telstra must have given Boost Mobile a lot of cash to execute this as their first campaign.
Agree with Damn, not really sure how this actually ties back to selling their product. Why is pre-paid connected to “stay living”? Maybe this will come out in later video releases, but I’m not sure people will stay intrigued long enough if there is a bigger selling point.
This is ballsy work. A very brave client. Good stuff.
This is the coolest thing that Australian advertising has made in a long time. Love you Monkeys.
Hats off. That is freakin awesome stuff and bloody brave from the client. If only more clients would be that adventurous. Let me get back to my POS brief.
Jealous much but I don’t know what they are trying to say/sell??
Awesome campaign. Brave agency. Brave client. Nice work Monkeys.
Well done to all involved – appropriately gruesome. Great commitment.
A little bit of a leap BUT yes to all involved i like !!
How can you say you like something when in the same sentence you say that you don’t know how it ties back to the product/will sell more product? The job is advertising, not art.
the ads are yet to come…these are just the films…so ad cravers be patient…
I think Devine has done a great job of making a few films about slaying zombies. Now what the fuck has this got to do with phones? At a conceptual level it’s not even thin – it’s non-existent.
Um, @dumbfounded, isn’t it about not being a zombie loser on a phone contract? Stay living and free etc. That’s what I get from it, though could leap out a bit quicker.
Anyone can see it’s about not being tied down to a contract. Zombies represent the customers of the big telcos etc. Pretty bloody obvious and spot on for target.
ps. I love it, and bravery award to the boost clients
Spoke to an old colleague at Fallon last night and we covered the Giff Gaff work they’ve just launch. Apparently it’s working well in the UK. They’re pissed that this Boost work beat them to market, by hours. Different strategies and ideas both using zombies. Hats off to both. Particularly these films, here, in the telco category.
Neither Monkey’s or Fallon are the first to use zombies in an ad campaign idea.
This is very nice work though.
Not dumbed down or product heavy. It’s entertainment that makes you like the brand in a market place where all the offers are exactly the same.
Content based campaigns like this are a step forward for the industry.
If you’re going to sell someone something at least entertain them while you do it.
Although agree it’s not overt, isn’t the strategy when you don’t have phone credit you’re dead? Hence the line Stay Living?
Simple, but not really clear.
nice films indeed. I was hoping they weren’t teasers for ads by the end. however they are, so lets see what the ad actually looks like. brave work, but I think all the people who work for the monkeys should spend less time looking for validation on this blog. After all, there’s more important things in life. That being said, what the hell am I doing here? laterz.
I know, Zombies are in vogue at the moment, let’s do a zombie ad/film. Lunch anyone…? Not much thinking there I’m afraid.