29,000 online articles appeared about Jonny (actual articles specifically written about our guy over the three days).Over 50,000 visits to Jonny’s blog (in just three days).683 diggs of iPhone Jonny.24,000 unique visits to Yellow’s iPhone Jonny site.Over 12,000 competition entries to win Jonny’s iPhone.

Background:In New Zealand, the Yellow Pages was seen as an old fashioned book that was no longer the best place for people to find businesses. New online directories such as Google were gaining dominance particularly with young people. Our brief was to show that Yellow online and via mobile was the smart, savvy way for everyone to find businesses.

Creative Solution:New Zealand was the first country to get the 3G iPhone. We knew that the first person to get one would get massive coverage, so we planted Jonny at the front of the queue, three days before it went on sale. He survived on the freezing streets using only Yellow on his laptop and mobile to find food, shelter and fun. On his blog and in interviews he subtly mentioned Yellow. After he got the phone, we broke the story with a website, banners and a print ad that gave everyone the chance to win Jonny’s phone.

Creative Relevance:This was a single minded product demonstration that rode off the back of a major technology story. By leveraging the iPhone launch we generated a huge amount of interest in Jonny and continuously yet subtly used this interest to communicate that Jonny was surviving thanks to the businesses he was finding using Yellow. After he had succeeded in being the first person to get the phone (which he wouldn’t have done if we had been overt about his involvement with Yellow) we highlighted Yellow’s involvement, generating a second wave of coverage.