LONDON - Saatchi & Saatchi injected a burst of high-energy entertainment into the daily commute at Liverpool Street Station yesterday morning as 350 dancers broke into a spontaneous routine to launch T-Mobile's 'Life's for Sharing' campaign.
Saatchi & Saatchi planted hundreds of dancers and ten hidden cameras throughout the station's rush hour crowds to film the dance spectacular that will premiere tonight on Channel 4 at 9.10pm as an exclusive three minute solo spot during Celebrity Big Brother.
In a style reminiscent of 'flash mob' events, music pumped through the loudspeakers at Liverpool Street Station as a single commuter began to dance. As the music changed, the dancing quickly spread through the morning travellers until hundreds of people were seen moving in unison. Then, as quickly as it began, the performance ended and the dancers dispersed into the crowd. The event, choreographed by one of Britain's leading choreographers, Ashley Wallen, left commuters stunned, surprised and delighted.
Saatchi & Saatchi Creative Partner Paul Silburn said: "The idea was to create a feeling of spontaneity - an event so memorable that people can't help but join in and share it."
Saatchi & Saatchi Creative Partner Kate Stanners said: "Across the whole campaign we've looked for ways to really engage with people through the notion of 'Life's for Sharing'. We hope that 'Dance' will connect with people in a bold and dynamic way, inspiring them to create and share their own memorable moments."
A massive endeavour, the entire 'Dance' spot will have been staged, shot, edited and broadcast for the next day. The event follows months of preparation including auditioning T-Mobile staff to join the dance corps, secret midnight rehearsals in freezing conditions, numerous meetings with Network Rail and negotiating the rights for eight classic music tracks.
Richard Huntington, Director of Strategy at Saatchi & Saatchi said: "This is the first outing for our new T-Mobile organising idea, Life's for Sharing. Bringing this to life with an unconventional advertising idea we wanted to create an event that people would want to take part in and then share with each other."
T-Mobile UK, Head of Brand Communications, Lysa Hardy, said: "Our new brand position 'Life's for Sharing' is an exciting move for T-Mobile and 'Dance' captures this perfectly."
Footage from the event will be used across online, direct and retail channels. T-Mobile has also created a YouTube channel (www.youtube.co.uk/lifesforsharing) where people can upload videos, and see humorous clips featuring celebrities being taught how to do the T-Mobile dance by leading dancer and choreographer, Briony Albert.
The fully integrated campaign also includes digital outdoor and print (from 29 January), online (19 January) and radio (1 February). "Life's for Sharing" will run across interactive TV (26 January) and air in cinemas from 16 February.
Media is planned and bought through MediaCom.