German internet radio station Radio.Net has created a ‘Football Pen’ to enable die-hard soccer supporters to discreetly keep up with the live Russia 2018 action from their offices and meeting rooms.
This product led campaign by the international radio platform service revolves around a clever, tech-enabled smart pen – which allows users to hear live web radio when they bitten.
When bitten the pen allows the user to hear a live radio stream of the football matches and allows the user to discreetly hear the details of the games
Launched in early June, ahead of the 14 June FIFA World Cup kick-off, the Football Pen was developed in harness with creative agency Havas Düsseldorf.
The branded writing utility enables committed fans to discretely follow the game while they are at work by delivering radio live stream sound waves from the pen to the inner ear of the user through bone conduction.
The high-tech, smart pen connects to a mobile phone via Bluetooth and users simply need to download the Radio.Net app to use it to stream World, Cup match commentary in real-time.
The idea was promoted in early June with the launch of a video across the brand’s digital and social platforms.
The spot, entitled ‘The Football Pen’, was also created by Havas Worldwide Dusseldorf
and is supported by social media content and banner ads in Germany and Europe.
Radio.Net is also offering Football Pens in an online raffle as an incentive to further build its user base.
“When we first heard about the idea of the “football pen”, we immediately knew: we have a match! Our Connected Device Company is always looking for new devices and ways to make radio and podcasts audible in a variety of ways: from classic PCs over mobile apps to smart speakers,” commented Radio.Met German managing director Bernhard Bahners.
“The Football Pen is the ultimate discreet channel to listen independently and mobile to radio streams like the World Cup broadcasts – anytime, anywhere. Even after the World Cup, the “Football Pen” will surely become a smart everyday companion.”
Chief Creative Officer of Havas Düsseldorf and Executive Creative Director Digital Havas Europe Darren Richardson added: “With the “Football Pen” we wanted to react to the imminent conflict between work and World Cup enjoyment. We thought how do we bring together the work commitment of German people and the passion for Football? The result is the “football pen” – an everyday object, which we hijacked to take advantage of human habits to create a the secret audio device.” He adds: “At Havas, we develop creations that are both fun and meaningful. We have a strong creation team of smart, international minds who daily think about how we can solve our everyday issues in an original way.”
Comment:
The creative team at Havas Düsseldorf claims the smart device unites the two greatest German passions: work and football.
It also offers a solution to the fact that Russia has eleven time zones: five of which will have a major influence on the match air times for German fans.
Particularly in the group phase when Germany meets South Korea at 16:00 CET – when most Germans will still be working in their offices.
The smart pen is a smart stunt marketing move: a clever utility that could well prove genuinely useful and a PR led stunt that is attracting headlines around the world.
One potential snag though: this high-tech stunt from a web media business brand fails to realise that a huge number of workers no longer bring pens to meetings and just use their smartphone and tablets to make notes instead.
Links:
Radio.Net
https://twitter.com/www_radio_net
https://www.facebook.com/www.radio.net
https://www.linkedin.com/company/radio-de-gmbh
Havas Worldwide Dusseldorf
