A 15” Cornetto Mic Hero TVC, plus bus shelters, rich media online adverts, POP and four bursts of PR activity were created for key markets to drive awareness and communicate the details of the activation. The digital platform for Cornetto, was in partnership with QQ, the dominant IM application within our target of heavy IM users. Consumers could use the code under each lid to redeem via SMS or online via QQ for free SMS and premiums, including special ringtones and themes.The Mic Hero competition built the brand by association with karaoke and celebrity. Rich media ads used a celebrity couple to motivate participants to upload karaoke entries to the Cornetto website, or vote for their favourite entries. A campus road show with singing competitions encouraged consumers to enter the contest, with a chance to win a record contract, and recognition as the Cornetto Mic Hero of China.

More than 15,000 competitors uploaded their pictures and songs to the Cornetto Mic Hero website in 2008. The campaign site generated 20 million page views, and each day of the campaign, some 2,000 Cornetto lids were used to register activation codes and secure Mic Hero premiums. By the end of 2008 the Cornetto Mic Hero activation helped to achieve a 43% YOY increase in sales, beating the sales target.