Telia
Project: 5G Onion
Transforming an onion into a 5G-powered innovation of the future
Telia, Sweden’s leading 5G provider, was struggling to convey 5G’s abstract value to ensure it remained the supplier of choice.
01The challenge
Sweden’s #1 telecom operator, Telia, is leading the distribution of 5G in the country but consumers don’t understand the value of 5G and no one – not Telia or any competitor – has been successful in communicating its worth. We needed to demonstrate why it’s important in a way that people care about – by making the move from complexity to simplicity.
02The solution
We left complex and technical jargon behind – and explained the value of 5G through an everyday, mundane object… an onion. With the help of agricultural robots growing onions, the value of 5G became tangible, edible and understandable.
Bringing tears to your eyes, literally
Research revealed 66% of Swedes don’t grasp 5G’s significance, but 91% value socially beneficial companies like Telia.
Telia teamed up with agricultural robotics company, Ekobot, and used 5G-powered autonomous field robots for precision farming to take care of weed control and farming of onions. This method results in less pesticides, better taste, longer shelf life and a larger harvest. The 5G-onion was born. We launched the onion as the tech innovation it truly is – using the same visual expression and tonality as other tech products. We also made the onion available in every Telia store in the country, side by side with iPhones, headphones and smart tablets, as well as selling it in regular supermarkets. To highlight this was not just a marketing stunt, but really a true product development, we also let Sweden’s most renowned chef, Gustav Leonhardt, try it out to review taste and shelf life.
We wanted people to be interested and excited – and they sure were. Chef Gustav said it both tasted and looked better than regular onions.
03The impact
Making 5G digestible – one onion at a time
The campaign achieved a total reach of 81.4M – and the campaign site had 236K+ visitors, which is 23,500% more than benchmark from Telia’s previous campaigns. Coverage was also 172% above target. But it wasn’t all about the news and clicks. People were also curious about the real onion and brought home over 12.6k onions from Telia-stores across the country, including supermarkets. One local supermarket saw the sale of onions increase by 300% during the week they sold the 5G-onion.
Let’s talk
Have an RFP you’d like to share? Skip the contact form below and email us to get started.
Fields with * are required.