O2 is launching a £6m through-the-line marketing campaign to support its launch of three new products targeting the family segment of the UK market. The O2 Joggler, O2 Calendar and Your Family Bolt-on have all been designed to help family life run more smoothly and save families money.

The O2 Family campaign will go live on May 18th spanning television, cinema, print and online media. The campaign also incorporates experiential marketing and has a strong social media focus.

The creative, developed by VCCP, shows a kitchen scene where the fridge is the hub of family life, and features a family of animated fridge magnets. In the TV ad, stopframe animation is used to show the family organising their appointments using the O2 Joggler, demonstrating a new way to help family life run more smoothly.

The ad will run on TV for five weeks from May 18th and in cinema across the summer. The print campaign will run in national press and family lifestyle magazines for six weeks. Online advertising will focus on a range of lifestyle and news websites.

An O2 Family Zone will be touring the UK, visiting summer fetes, O2 Scrum on the Beach events and little league competitions from May to August. The O2 Family Zone will offer a fun, comfy area with games to play, face painting, refreshments and competitions. Parents will get the chance to try out the new O2 Joggler.

O2 will also seek to engage with mothers in particular through social networking sites. A former journalist has been recruited as O2’s ‘Mum-e’ blogger and will write about her life as a busy mum and how technology is helping her. She will engage with family forums and sites such as Twitter. To read the Mum-e blog, visit www.mum-e.co.uk.

“This is the first time we have specifically gone out to target the family segment of the market,” said Marketing Director, Alistair Johnston. “We believe this market represents a great opportunity for O2 and that with the products we are launching, we can add value to family life. This campaign will help re-position O2 as a more family-orientated brand.”

The O2 Joggler is a sleek 7” touch screen device for the household that keeps the whole family connected. It has been built on the insight that family life is hectic and can be difficult to manage. Appointments, birthdays, school runs, work deadlines and more can all be stored on the O2 Joggler’s calendar, which will text handy reminders to family members’ O2 mobile phones. Other features include weather updates, the latest news & sports headlines, and a photo, video and music player. It is priced at £149.99 or free if taken instead of a handset at upgrade*.

The O2 Your Family Bolt-on will not only save families money, but also ensure that they are always connected to each other. One family member pays £7.50 per month and nominates four other O2 people to join their calling circle. All calls, text and picture messages within this calling circle are at no extra cost in the UK. Parents with children on Pay & Go O2 mobiles for instance can have reassurance that their children can always reach them, regardless of how much credit is left; while children can save their credit for speaking to their friends**.

Media buying was handled by Zenith Optimedia, online creative by Agency Republic, social media by VCCP Digital and below the line communications by AIS.

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