| Title | #BENDTHERULESME |
| Agency | OMD Digital |
| Campaign | #BENDTHERULESME |
| Advertiser | Hewlett-Packard |
| Brand | HP |
| Date of First Broadcast/Publication | 2016 |
| Business Sector | Consumer Electronics & Audio-Visual |
| Philosophy | hp looked to launch the new Pavilion X360 during the UAE Gitex period. With over 150,000 visitors, Gitex is every tech company's go-to platform for launching new products, all vying for the same attention. This surge of advertising to contextually promote products causes significant clutter, making it difficult for brands to stand out. To break through this clutter effectively (and for less money than tech-leaders spend), hp looked to highlight the X360's ability to flip from laptop to tablet, bending the rules of what each is made for; a solution to the perfect work-life balance in a busy city. Creative Execution March 30: the RJs put the plot into action and bent the rules by swapping studios. Each hosted the other’s program in their own language, bending the rules of people’s daily radio experience. Prince took-over James’ Channel 4 English show, while James did the same with Rami on Al Rabia Arabic. Rami following suite on Prince’s Radio 4 Hindi show, with the disruption going viral. Hundreds of calls, SMS's, Tweets and Posts questioning frequency issues ensued, after which the RJ’s explained they had bent the rules, introducing the X360 with a two-week competition where participants tell their personal Bend-The-Rule stories.Insights, Strategy and the IdeaDubai residents listen to radio shows in their own language during daily commutes, causing Morning Drivetimes to have the highest listenership throughout the day, also generating consumer engagement through competitions. So we secretly met with three of Channel 4 Network's most followed RJs: Rami (Al Rabia Arabic), Prince (Radio 4 Hindi) and James (Channel 4 English). Despite initial hesitancy, they finally agreed to an elaborate plot to seed the X360’s ability to bend the rules metaphorically into the stations most listened time-bands, surprising UAE listeners regardless of their native language as an introduction to the device, and a competition kick-off. |
| Result | The reaction to the competition was highlighted through both the barrage of social posts highlighting the disruption as well as the participation figures in the competition. The subsequent competition resulted in 55,000 social engagements, while 1.3 unique users were acquired on FB and 3,500 extra FB fans for the hp page. Furthermore, hp overachieved their sales forecast by 118%, with 143% of sales achieved outside Gitex. |
| Media Type | Case Study |
| Length | |
| Director of Innovation | Haytham Zoghby |
| Associate Director - Planning | Ramy Mouganie |
| Senior Executive - Planning | Gautam Kukreja |
| PPS Services and Solutions Marketing Manager - MEMA | Zeina Nasr |