Our challenge was to make Carphone Warehouse’s TV sponsorship of the X Factor as interesting and engaging as the show itself. So we created Britain’s first mobile phone singing competition and let the public become the real stars of the ad break. By auditioning on your mobile phone you could go online and see your animated performance brought to life by a little dancing character. This would then get judged by the public and the best, or the worst, would become the Carphone Warehouse idents, seen by the whole nation, every week.

We created Britain’s first mobile phone singing competition where people were contestants in a virtual talent contest, and the best (or worst) became our TV idents. Our star-seekers recorded their audition by singing into their mobile phone. They received a code via text message, entitling them to register on the site, where judges rated their performances and they could listen to other auditions, judge them and send to friends. The rating process was intentionally engaging, with dozens of animated outcomes inflicted on contestants depending on their scores. With a limited budget we transformed all the communication channels we could – store windows, in-store posters, buyer’s guides, customer emails, head office, and online banners, all directed consumers to the X Factor Challenge.