In May 2019, EE beat the rest of the Telco market to be the first to launch 5G technology.

Six months later, although take-up was steady, there still remained a lack of consumer understanding of what exactly 5G is, what use it holds in our day to day lives, and just what we can do with it.

The high-tech benefits of 5G have been well-covered in mainstream media, with an abundance of inspirational long-term use-cases and seamless innovation.

The challenge for EE, and for the category at large, was to communicate the exciting future that 5G offers in a way that’s relatable and easy to understand. Future facing, yet relevant now.

As the competition in the 5G market intensified, we needed to ensure that we remained the number one choice for 5G among consumers.

We chose a real challenge. We set our goal: to create the first ever live Augmented Reality performance, powered by 5G. Using AR to enhance a real-time experience, we created a world which was seamlessly overlaid with a live performance at one of the busiest stations in the UK. We transformed Birmingham New Street Station into an interactive, AR live concert featuring chart-toppers Bastille performing an exclusive remix of Pompeii with live dance performances.

In addition, through a bespoke app, which transformed commuters’ phones into a window to the AR world, onlookers at the station could experience an additional digital layer to their reality. We simultaneously live-streamed the performance to four other stations around the country as well as broadcasting it live online.

Those in other cities could use their mobile devices to transport themselves to the live performance, experiencing the concert in 360 degrees, complete with AR overlay.

Our strategic approach to the problem of how to sell 5G was to reject category norms, depicting driverless cars and drones, and instead focus on an enhanced experience in the here and now, using technology that already exists, primarily AR.

This activation perfectly demonstrated the core benefits of 5G - speed, capacity and latency - in a tangible way. It transformed the language of mobile technology from cybersphere jargon and into an engaging experience that thousands of Brits could enjoy on their commute.

By choosing to do this in real-time, with real devices that we use everyday, a real band and real onlookers, we were able to capture natural, relatable reactions to the wonder that is 5G and communicate the benefits of the technology as it can be experienced today, through the power of mobile and not to what it could be in the future.

We designed and custom-built a bespoke app in just four weeks. This was the portal into the AR experience for our onlookers and how they could experience the AR for themselves. The performance itself happened at Birmingham New Street station but the experience didn’t stop there and was equally as thrilling from another four stations across the country.

To drive home the instantaneous and collaborative potential of a 5G connection we simultaneously live-streamed the performance to three other stations around the country. Edinburgh, Liverpool, and the one and only, London Kings Cross.

We filmed the live performance and people’s reactions for real which formed the basis of our TV commercial. The spot lived on in Broadcast TV, on VOD and in Cinemas nationwide. Elevating the role of AR, and two giant dancing Yeti’s, for those who weren’t able to experience it on the ground.

The experience itself has drawn an estimated 500k video views.

The activity helped to drive 16.4k mobile phone connections over this period and we witnessed a 4% increase in both consideration and first choice purchase intent among our target audience.

Importantly, it ensured that we remained the premier choice in customers’ minds for 5G, with 46% of those surveyed agreeing that EE was the obvious choice for 5G, extending our lead over our nearest competitor.