Tag: Brand positioning

O2: Be More Dog

A cat decides it has had enough of being indifferent. It chases, leaps, splashes, and generally behaves like a dog. O2 UK uses that simple flip to ask people to do the same with technology. Less “meh”. More curious.

With VCCP and the Moving Picture Company, the campaign extends beyond the TV spot into a participation layer. That participation layer means the idea does not stop at the film but gives people something to do and share. On visiting www.bemoredog.com, people are greeted by a cat that acts more like a dog, then pulled into interactive play through a dual-screen HTML5 Frisbee game and a set of customisable cat videos designed for sharing.

How the integration is designed

The mechanism is a clean handoff. TV creates the character and the phrase. Mobile turns into the controller for a dual-screen game. Social carries the customisable video layer so people can pull friends into the same joke and the same attitude shift.

In UK consumer telecoms, where functional claims blur quickly, a memorable behavioural metaphor can do more positioning work than another round of feature talk.

Why it lands

It works because it uses a familiar truth. The cat-to-dog flip works because it turns an abstract behaviour change into a visual joke people understand in seconds. Cats look cool and detached. Dogs look curious and all-in. That contrast is instantly readable, and it translates directly into what O2 wants from people. Try the new thing. Explore. Stop acting like technology is background noise.

Extractable takeaway: If you want people to reframe a category, give them a single, sticky metaphor and one simple interaction that lets them experience the new attitude, not just hear about it.

What O2 is really trying to shift

This is brand positioning dressed as entertainment. The real question is how to make curiosity about new technology feel socially easy and emotionally attractive, not technically demanding. O2 is steering perception toward optimism and exploration, and using connected play to make “embracing the new” feel easy, not technical. In context, the timing also supports a broader push into newer network experiences, including 4G-era behaviour change.

What brand teams can steal from Be More Dog

  • Use one character as the bridge. The cat carries TV, site, game and shareables without needing extra explanation.
  • Make mobile do a job. Second-screen control is more convincing than a generic “download our app” prompt.
  • Build sharing into the format. Customisable videos give people a reason to tag or send, not just watch.
  • Keep the interaction lightweight. Quick play beats complicated onboarding when the goal is broad participation.

A few fast answers before you act

What is “Be More Dog”?

It is an O2 UK brand campaign that uses a cat acting like a dog as a metaphor for being more curious and enthusiastic about new technology, supported by second-screen and shareable digital experiences.

What is the core digital mechanic?

A dual-screen HTML5 Frisbee game that uses a phone as the controller, plus customisable cat videos designed for social sharing.

Why does the cat versus dog metaphor work so well?

It compresses a complex ask into a simple behavioural contrast people instantly understand, then turns that contrast into a repeatable line and a repeatable action.

What makes this an integrated campaign rather than “TV plus a website”?

The channels do different jobs that depend on each other. TV creates meaning. Mobile enables interaction. Social distributes personalised variants that pull others back into the idea.

What is the biggest way this pattern fails?

If the digital layer feels bolted on. The interaction has to express the same promise as the film, otherwise it becomes a novelty that does not move perception.

Kraft Mac & Cheese: Dinner, Not Art iPad App

Kids the world over use Kraft’s macaroni noodles to create macaroni art. To stop wastage of its noodles, Kraft along with ad agency CP+B came up with an iPad app that allowed kids to create digital macaroni art.

The special ‘Dinner, Not Art’ app also donated 10 noodles to ‘Feeding America’ for every noodle used in the kids digital art, capped at 110 million noodles. The donation program is said to run till 31.12.2012. So if you would like to participate then head over to www.DinnerNotArt.com.

When “waste” becomes a UI problem

The cultural truth is simple. Kids love gluing macaroni to paper, and the brand ends up underwriting a craft habit that has nothing to do with dinner. Dinner, Not Art flips that behavior into a digital substitute, while keeping the kid-driven creativity intact.

The mechanics behind Dinner, Not Art

The app recreates macaroni art as a touch-first canvas. Kids place noodles, shape the picture, and finish a piece without using a single real noodle.

That substitution works because it preserves the same make-and-place ritual for the child while removing the product waste that makes the original behavior frustrating for parents.

The participation loop is quantified. Each digital noodle used is described as triggering a real-noodle donation to Feeding America, with a stated cap of 110 million noodles, and a program end date described as 31.12.2012.

In global FMCG organizations, utility-style brand apps work best when the interaction directly expresses the brand’s point of view, and produces a measurable counter in the real world.

Why this lands with parents and kids

The line “Dinner, Not Art” works because it is a gentle reprimand wrapped in play. Kids still get to make something. Parents get a reason to say “yes” without the cleanup and the waste, and the brand gets to reframe its product as food, not craft material.

Extractable takeaway: If you are trying to stop a behavior, do not only scold it. Offer a substitute that preserves the fun, then attach a visible benefit to every use.

What Kraft is really buying with this

The real question is whether a food brand can redirect a familiar household behavior without stripping out the fun that made it popular in the first place.

This is brand positioning with a conversion path. It reinforces that the product belongs on the table, creates positive family-time association, and uses the donation mechanic to make engagement feel purposeful rather than promotional.

What brand teams can borrow from Dinner, Not Art

  • Replace the waste, not the impulse. Keep the same creative behavior, move it to a medium that does not consume product.
  • Make the counter tangible. Tie each action to a simple unit that people instantly understand, like noodles donated per noodle used.
  • Cap with intention. A cap can protect budgets while still sounding meaningful, as long as the unit story stays clear.
  • Use a line that can parent-proof the idea. If the tagline helps a parent justify participation, adoption gets easier.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Dinner, Not Art app?

It is an iPad app from Kraft and CP+B that lets kids create digital macaroni art, positioned as a way to avoid wasting real macaroni noodles on crafts.

How does the donation mechanic work?

The campaign is described as donating 10 real noodles to Feeding America for every digital noodle used in a child’s artwork, with a stated cap of 110 million noodles.

Why does this tactic fit the Kraft Mac & Cheese category?

Because it tackles a real behavior linked to the product, while reinforcing the intended usage. The experience says “this belongs at dinner,” without killing the creativity kids want.

What makes this more than a donation promotion?

It changes a product-adjacent behavior, makes the benefit visible per action, and ties the brand message to how the experience actually works.

What should other brands copy from this pattern?

Pick one wasteful or off-brand usage behavior, create a satisfying digital substitute, and connect every interaction to a simple, counted real-world outcome.

Carlsberg: Bikers in cinema experiment

In a Belgian cinema, an “easy night out” turns into a small test of nerve. A couple walks in with tickets in hand. The room looks full. The only two empty seats are in the middle. The twist is that the audience is packed with intimidating bikers.

Carlsberg and Duval Guillaume Modem set this up as an experiment to reinforce the brand’s association with making the right choices. Reactions were recorded and edited into a viral film that rewards the people who stay seated rather than turn around.

The mechanism that makes it work

The mechanics are simple and deliberate. Fill the room. Leave two seats. Let unsuspecting pairs make a binary decision in public. Stay or leave. The tension is real because the setting is real, and the social pressure is visible to everyone watching.

Once a couple commits and sits down, the room flips from threat to approval. The bikers applaud, and the moment turns into a reward scene that makes the brand feel like it “saw” the better choice.

In crowded FMCG categories, social experiments work when they dramatize a value claim in a single, easy-to-retell moment.

The real question is whether you can borrow social risk to create attention without breaking participant trust.

Why it lands: social risk, then social proof

The audience experiences the same internal dialogue as the couples. Do I trust my instincts. Do I judge by appearance. Do I avoid discomfort. That tension is the hook. The applause is the release. Here, “social risk” is the fear of being judged in public, and “social proof” is the crowd signalling approval once the choice is made.

Extractable takeaway: When you borrow social pressure as the hook, you must also design visible approval as the proof, so the value claim is retellable in one line.

It also produces a clean moral without preaching. The brave are rewarded. The crowd is not actually hostile. The viewer walks away with a feeling that maps neatly onto the brand’s “good decision” positioning.

What Carlsberg is buying with this stunt

This is not about product attributes. It is about emotional territory. Confidence. Decency under pressure. And the idea that choosing Carlsberg is the grown-up, correct move when there are multiple options. This is a smart brand play because it turns “making the right choice” into observable behaviour, but it only works when the participants are treated carefully.

It is also engineered for sharing. The setup can be explained in one sentence, and the payoff is satisfying even if you only watch the last third of the video.

Design rules for your own brand experiments

  • Make the choice binary. The story works because there is a clear yes or no moment.
  • Stage tension, then earn release. If you create discomfort, you must repay it with warmth or justice.
  • Keep the “why” instantly readable. Viewers should understand what is being tested without narration.
  • Reward the behaviour you want to own. The applause is not decoration. It is the message.
  • Protect trust. If participants feel tricked or harmed, the brand loses the moral high ground.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Carlsberg “bikers in cinema” experiment?

It is a filmed cinema stunt where unsuspecting couples enter a theatre filled with bikers and find only two seats left among them. Their decision to stay or leave becomes the story, and the people who stay are rewarded.

Why is this more shareable than a typical ad?

Because the premise is instantly understandable and the emotional arc is clean. Tension, decision, payoff. That structure travels well as a short video.

What brand message does the stunt communicate?

That “making the right choice” is a real behaviour under pressure, not a slogan. The brand borrows credibility by rewarding the choice on camera.

What is the biggest risk with social-experiment advertising?

Breaking trust. If the situation feels unsafe, humiliating, or coercive, the audience will side with the participants, not the brand.

How do you adapt this pattern without copying the stunt?

Create a public moment with a clear decision, then design a surprising but positive reward that proves your positioning. Keep the stakes emotional, not harmful.