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AMV BBDO enlist Alec Baldwin for BT's “Behind the Scenes” campaign

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Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor and producer, Alec Baldwin, is the latest high-profile American actor to star in a British advertising campaign. Baldwin stars in BT’s latest “Behind the scenes” advertising campaign, which will promote BT Mobile. The TV campaign, which first aired on Friday June 3, will be supported by out of home and digital ads featuring Alec Baldwin in different locations around the country. In an interesting move, there will also be regionalised versions for London, Manchester and Birmingham as well as cinema, radio and social media activity.

Check me out in the next ad for BT Mobile. I loved spending time filming in the UK, especially meeting the sheep!” Alec Baldwin

The latest instalment of the campaign, created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, aims to be an entertaining parody of the advertising process and looks deeper into the world of marketing. The new campaign follows other successful ads in the series featuring Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Rebel Wilson and Ewan McGregor. BT Mobile customers can get online with 4G and wi-fi in more places than with any other mobile provider. It is so good, the fictional BT clients claim, that it stands comparison with something that is highly celebrated worldwide. The claim that the marketers put to the test is that BT Mobile’s 4G and wi-fi is: “As good as Alec Baldwin’s dramatic delivery.”

The spot, directed by Jeff Low from Biscuit for AMV BBDO, sees a sceptical Baldwin demonstrate that customers can access BT in kinds of places while proving how great his acting is. These include standing with sheep in a field using Google Maps because he's lost, watching a game on his phone while waiting for the bus, and browsing someone's Facebook profile while hanging out at a campsite. Of course, his lines are spoken with panache and therein lies the comedy, as well as the fact he's rather sharply dressed throughout.

Viewers will be entertained watching Alec in everyday British settings where he will use his talent to speak in a dramatic way about ordinary things”

Dan Ramsay, BT Consumer Marketing Director, said: “We wanted to bring to life just how good BT Mobile’s 4G and wi-fi coverage is. We understand that getting online where they need to, really matters to our customers. Viewers will be entertained watching Alec in everyday British settings where he will use his talent to speak in a dramatic way about ordinary things. He has such a great delivery– whether it’s his pauses or his intonation, he has a way of making anything sound dramatic. He could read out the BT Phone Book and leave you wanting more.”

BT’s new campaign coincides with the company launching new pay monthly mobile phone contracts with the latest phones in a move that will expand its presence in the consumer mobile market. Using American A-list celebrities seems to be a popular trend among telecom advertisers in the UK, what with the success of Kevin Bacon's ongoing campaign for BT's rival mobile network EE. Whatever next? Perhaps Robert De Niro pushing affordable tariffs for giffgaff? These are strange, wonderful times indeed.

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As good as Alec Baldwin's Dramatic Delivery

Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and struggling musician from Kidderminster in the UK. His favourite Alex Baldwin role is Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock. 

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