BT unveils a pounds 1.5 million ‘hearts and minds’ advertising campaign
next week that focuses on the telecoms company’s role as a caring
corporate citizen.
Four new commercials, directed by Paul Arden and created by Abbott Mead
Vickers BBDO, attempt to show BT’s contribution to society.
The campaign departs from the previous corporate productions that began
with the ‘help the world keep talking’ ad, featuring Stephen Hawking, in
1993 and continued in 1995 with the ‘blindfold’ spot, starring the
father and son team, Peter and Sir Edmund Hillary.
The campaign breaks nationally on Monday and will run until March. The
films, shot in Blackpool and using local people rather than actors, link
a series of real-life snapshots which highlight BT’s contribution to the
ChildLine charity and its understanding of the deaf and elderly. The
commercials are backed by Elvis Presley’s classic track, Always on my
Mind, and each spot finishes with the tagline: ‘You are always on our
mind.’
According to Jeremy Miles, group account director for BT at AMV: ‘The
objective of the advertising is to demonstrate to the general public,
opinion formers and shareholders alike that BT does a great deal for a
lot of different people. We wanted to provide them with a rounded
picture of the company.’
He added: ‘Every time a story is written in the press about BT’s
financial results the only story told is how much money BT makes a
minute. We wanted to tell how people benefit from BT’s activities.’
Commenting on BT’s involvement with projects such as ChildLine, Jackie
Kavanagh, head of corporate campaigns at BT, said: ‘The breadth of BT’s
involvement in the community is not widely known or understood. However,
when people are told about the different ways that BT is contributing to
Britain they are surprised.’
The ads were created by Damon Collins and Mary Wear and produced through
Arden Sutherland-Dodd. Media is handled by IDK Media.
