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Boris Johnson Vodafone

Vodafone announces social media led own-brand engagement strategy with New Year's Eve multisensory firework display in London

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By Stephen Lepitak, -

December 9, 2013 | 3 min read

Vodafone has revealed a new global own-brand engagement strategy which will begin across all of its markets from next year, beginning in London with a New Year's multisensory firework display.

The introduction of Vodafone Firsts, a social-media led strategy, will see the telecoms company aim to move away from its current sponsorship approach with the aim of creating “a much deeper” interaction with its 400 million strong customer base.

The strategy will aim to highlight people achieving remarkable things for the first time whilst connected through Vodafone technology - which will be used to identify, enable and activate three tiers of firsts across 30 countries.

Those tiers are; ‘personal’, ‘local’ and ‘global’ with the company aiming for a number of firsts, including an iconic sportswoman who is beginning to help protect vulnerable women around the world, a musician creating his first recording sourced from remote locations, a professional surfer aiming to achieve their life’s ambition and an orchestra being conducted through ‘a revolutionary approach’.

Barbara Haase, brand director of Vodafone Group, explained: "Firsts represents a radical break with almost a quarter of a century of Vodafone-branded badged sponsorship. The concept is simple: we know that our technology can enable and inspire people to do something amazing for the first time, from making their first call to sharing their first video. Firsts is designed to reflect that sense of empowerment and excitement by using our technology and connectivity to enable a diverse range of people to achieve their remarkable ambitions."

The strategy will begin in London on New Year’s Eve with the first multi-sensory fireworks display, which will be run in partnership with the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and food scientists Bompas & Parr. Thousands of people will be invited to attend, with Vodafone set to launch a free, augmented reality smartphone app to allow those not attending to join the experience around the world.

Boris Johnson Vodafone

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