Tag: ringtones

Claro: Ringtowns

Turning coverage into something people can carry

Claro is one of the leading telecommunications companies in Guatemala and it faces a constant struggle to combat negative perceptions of their network coverage. So Ogilvy Guatemala created a campaign to counter these perceptions and communicate the wide coverage of Claro by involving consumers through their cellphones.

Imitating the sound of the traditional ringtones they communicated the names of towns and remote communities in the country. The campaign “Ringtowns” was based on local realities in Guatemala to create a strong sense of identity and pride, while communicating the wide coverage of Claro in an innovative manner.

The mechanic: make a town name sound like a ringtone

The product here is not a poster or a banner. It is a piece of audio people choose to install. Each ringtone is designed to sound like a familiar phone ring while “saying” a place name, so the coverage claim becomes something you hear repeatedly in daily life.

A “Ringtown” is a downloadable ringtone that encodes a specific town or community name into the audio, so the location itself becomes the message.

In telecom categories where coverage is questioned, making the proof travel through personal devices can outperform traditional persuasion because it shows up in real social moments.

Why it lands: social proof disguised as personalization

This works because it turns a skeptical claim. “We cover remote places.” into a personalized choice. If I download a ringtone that represents my town, then every time my phone rings in public, it signals both identity and reach.

That shift matters. It turns the coverage narrative from a corporate statement into a consumer-owned artifact that other people hear.

What Claro is really buying with this format

This is an awareness campaign that behaves like distribution. Downloads create repeat exposures. Call events create additional impressions. Sharing extends reach without extra media spend.

Most importantly, it reframes “coverage” from a technical map into a cultural map. Names and pride replace bars and statistics.

What to steal if you want participation without friction

  • Make the message a utility. If people can use it daily, frequency is built in.
  • Use identity as the opt-in. People adopt things that say something about where they are from.
  • Design for public replay. Ringtones happen around other people, which makes the message audible and social.
  • Keep distribution simple. Website download and text message fulfillment reduce barriers.

A few fast answers before you act

What is Claro’s Ringtowns campaign?

It is a mobile campaign that turns town and community names into ringtone-style audio. People download the ringtones, and every incoming call becomes a small, repeated reminder of Claro’s coverage.

How does it communicate network coverage without showing a map?

It uses place names as the proof. By turning remote locations into ringtones, the campaign suggests breadth of coverage through cultural recognition rather than technical claims.

Why is the ringtone format powerful for marketing?

A ringtone is repeated, public, and chosen by the user. That combination creates high frequency exposure with built-in social visibility.

What is the key participation mechanic?

Users download one of the “Ringtowns” from the Claro website or request it by text message. Installation is the commitment step that creates ongoing exposure.

What is the biggest risk if you copy this idea?

If the audio is annoying or the payoff feels unclear, people will not keep it installed. The artifact has to be genuinely usable, not just clever once.

Vodafone NZ: 1000 phones, 53 ringtones, 1 song

When “viral” requires real engineering

To create a viral video these days, you need to do something great and unique. Vodafone NZ hired a production team to orchestrate cellphones into “playing” Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

This was done using 1000 phones and 53 different ringtone alerts, synchronized to recreate the classical piece.

How 1000 phones became an orchestra

The mechanism was constraint-driven composition.

Instead of instruments, the “sound palette” was a fixed set of ringtone alerts. The team then arranged phones like sections in an orchestra and synchronized their playback so the combined output recreated the music.

What makes this work on camera is that you can see the system. Rows of devices. Repetition at scale. A human-built machine producing a familiar piece.

In global telecom marketing, the most shareable films often work because the effort is visible. Vodafone NZ’s Symphonia-style execution is a clean example of spectacle built from real craft.

Why the idea lands with viewers

It lands because it is both absurd and precise.

Absurd in the best way. A classical overture performed by ringtone alerts should not work. Precision is what makes it impressive. The viewer can sense the complexity without needing to understand the full production process.

It also bridges cultures. Highbrow music meets everyday tech, creating an unexpected contrast that feels fresh instead of forced.

The business intent behind the ringtone orchestra

The intent was to associate Vodafone with coordination, scale, and modern connectivity, without having to say those words.

Thousands of connected devices acting as one is a visual metaphor for a telco’s promise, and the film makes that metaphor entertaining rather than technical.

What to steal for your next “impossible” content idea

  • Make effort visible. When the craft can be seen, viewers reward it with attention and sharing.
  • Use a constraint as the hook. “Only ringtones” creates a clear challenge people instantly understand.
  • Engineer a spectacle that reads in one frame. Scale should be obvious without explanation.
  • Let the metaphor do the branding. Show coordination and connectivity instead of claiming it.

If you like the resulting tune, you can download it to your computer, as well as the 53 ringtones used to create it, from www.vodafone.co.nz/symphonia.

A few fast answers before you act

What did Vodafone NZ create?

A film where 1000 mobile phones, using 53 different ringtone alerts, were synchronized to perform Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

What is the core mechanism?

Constraint-driven composition. A fixed set of ringtone sounds becomes the “instrument set”, and synchronization plus physical arrangement makes the system readable on camera.

Why does it work as shareable content?

The effort is visible. The scale reads instantly, and the contrast between classical music and ringtones creates a surprising but coherent hook.

What business goal does this support for a telco brand?

It turns “connectivity at scale” into a watchable metaphor. Many devices acting as one becomes an entertaining proof of coordination and network promise.

What is the most transferable takeaway?

If you can make the constraint and the craft legible in one frame, the build itself becomes the reason people share.