Skype and Specsavers partner for ‘groundbreaking media first’
Specsavers is set to use a ‘first’ of its kind format on Skype, using the service’s video capabilities to encourage users to engage with its ads.
The “Spectacle Wearer of the Year” competition campaign will appear on Skype’s interface and encourages users to click on a display ad or leader board to activate their webcams. From there they can take a picture of themselves wearing glasses to enter the competition.
Specsavers’ digital marketing manager Tim Langlois says the brand hopes the use of the “groundbreaking format, created by Microsoft Advertising, will generate the highest ever number of entries to the annual competition.
He adds its strategy to target environments where users are likely to have camera enabled devices will ensure a low barrier to entry.
James Hayr, Microsoft Advertising head of specialist sales, says: “Skype’s ability to make more meaningful connections over video means that this is the only platform a campaign like this could have been executed on, outstripping the reach of its competitors.”
The campaign, developed by Manning Gottlieb OMD in conjunction with DG MediaMind, will run on Skype until the end of June and be supported by digital display ads on MSN.
Skype launched advertising on its service for the first time last June, which it says serve to “spark additional topics of conversation” and “generate fun and interactivity” between friends, family and the brands users care about.
