New Years is a time of year when people most want to connect, but ironically often can’t due to network congestion. And, Sydney is renowned for the biggest and best NYE party on the planet.

As we all got ready to welcome 2013, Telstra set itself the challenge of connecting Australians like never before and taking the iconic Sydney NYE event to a new level.

Innovation across multiple screens was at the core of the campaign idea as we set ourselves the challenge of delivering a number of firsts including: making the event interactive for the first time in multiple ways, live streaming the event on YouTube with viewers able to select from 6 angles and the development of the official 2012 Sydney NYE app which allowed all Australians, even those on competitor networks to connect, reducing burden on the network on New Year’s Eve.

An integrated campaign across paid, earned and owned channels drove the public to download the iOS or Android version of the app which entertained, informed and connected users to the people they cared about most. We captured the attention of all the major Australian TV networks with features including:

- Midnight Messages – 50 pre-loaded SMS sent from midnight free

- Live Feed – teaser content all month

- Telstra Colour Moments – biggest interactive light show in Australia

- Message the Bridge – live SMS feed projected on the Harbour Bridge Pylons

- Live Maps – updates on every public vantage point around the harbour

An enterprise-grade fibre link put viewers in the driving seat with six live angles, including a helicopter, simultaneously broadcasting via our YouTube channel in HD. The live stream was embedded into the YouTube home page masthead to reach the maximum number of Australians in the right place, at the right time.

Telstra overcame the traditional lowlights of NYE and enhanced the experience for potentially all Australians regardless of network to deliver one of Telstra’s most positively mentioned initiatives with highlights including:

- Over 1 million minutes spent interacting with the 5-star rated app (which achieved #2 in iTunes and was featured in Google Play)

- Over 604,000 YouTube live stream views, over 30,000 combined hours of viewing time

- The largest ever live stream driven by an Australian brand

- 197,391 free Telstra Midnight Messages preloaded into the app

- 20M+ social media reach

- 16% growth in the lifetime views of our YouTube channel almost overnight, 1112% MOM increase in subscribers

- Case study featured at Google Australia’s multi-screen thought leadership event.

The campaign achieved a total of 5.4 years of brand engagement contributing to the highest brand consideration scores for Telstra on modern record.

The Lord Mayor of Sydney declared 2012 the best NYE event ever!