Barclaycard ads to premiere on mobile networks

Barclaycard is launching its latest £6m advertising campaign over mobile before it breaks on TV, in what it says marks a major shift in media strategy. Barclaycard is also shunning press advertising for the campaign because it believes television, mobile and online advertising are more effective for the brand.

The Barclays-owned credit card says the decision to break the ad, the last in a campaign starring Green Wing actors Stephen Mangan and Julian Rhind-Tutt, over O2‘s mobile network is the first by a “major” advertiser. The TV work will break during Channel 4’s Big Brother later this week.

The launch aims to target technology-savvy customers and it will be send to people depending on what kind of handset model they use.

The executions continue the characters road-trip across America, with Mangan’s character ending up handcuffed to his motel bed and robbed by the woman he met in a bar the night before, to highlight the benefits of gadget insurance. New Barclaycard customers will be offered six months free gadget insurance, with up to three phones, iPods or PDAs covered.

Paul Troy, Barclaycard head of advertising and promotions, says he expects 65,000 pre-rolls of the advert to be viewed on mobile phones, backed by the heavyweight TV and online campaign.

He says: “This is the mobile generation and we need to advertise and connect to that generation, using mobile.” Troy says he expects mobile advertising to grow in the same way that online advertising already has, with the medium being a “big part” of Barclaycard’s future plans.

Bartle Bogle Hegarty created the campaign, with media planning and buying by Walker Media and online digital work through Dare, which has been added to the card company’s agency roster.