DNA: Christmas Wish - The Surprise

Challenge
Christmas is one of the most important, but also the most competed season for mobile operators. Competitors fight to make themselves heard in a market, while competing with the same prices for the same array of products. Standing out is almost impossible.

Insight
Every year, people face the dilemma of gifts. You either blurt out your wish to ensure that you get what you want and thus sacrifice the element of surprise, or you spend a ridiculous amount of energy trying to hint your significant other on a potential gift and still not get what you want.

This holiday season, Finnish mobile operator DNA set out to change this.

Idea
DNA gave all of their ad space to consumers. People can make a wish on the website DNA.fi/toive, pick a media of their choosing and a device they would want and then gather likes for their wish. The ones with the most likes could get their not-so-subtle hints on billboards, TVC's, banner ads, DNA's Facebook page, outdoor ads, painted poster or even sung by a choir. All of this leads to surprising and fresh, but still highly tactical advertising, that stands out from the competition.

Execution
The campaign kicked off with an elaborate stunt. A mother who wanted a new iPad Air for Christmas, was invited to pull a prank on her husband.
The couple received movie tickets for a long-awaited night out. When they finally got the the multiplex, they were treated with a very special piece of pre-movie advertising, streamed live from their home. A character from earlier DNA commercials delivered the wife's wish to the surprised husband.