General information
Sector: Social/Messaging
Media: Linear TV, online, social media
Time period: August 2021
Case description
WhatsApp ‘View Once’, was a new feature that lets you send photos or videos that can only be opened by its recipient once – once opened, the message is deleted forever. The challenge was to find a partner who could help to drive awareness and raise WhatsApp’s association with privacy over a quick time frame, on a cost-effective budget.
The ‘’Transfer Deadline’’ is a major talking point in the sporting world – with much buzz, chat and speculation across social media. With Sky Sports as the destination for the latest news, an association with WhatsApp would be ideal to not only build awareness but actually showcase features across platforms and be part of the narrative.
The execution took the form of sponsorship of Sky Sports’ coverage across the month-long Transfer Window, including in-programme live activation on Deadline Day. By also partnering with influencer Harry Pinero, it allowed the partnership to transcend Live TV and Digital platforms, tapping into Sky Sports’ and Harry’s massive following across YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
Alongside in-show Broadcast sponsorship branded titles, WhatsApp became the first ever brand to have product placement integrated with live unscripted editorial content in the UK. Harry and the Sky Sports News presenters were getting the latest transfer hot tips delivered via WhatsApp and being discussed live on air. On Deadline Day WhatsApp also took over all of Sky Sports’ Transfer Window real estate with a homepage takeover across Sky Sports’ website and app, and social sponsorship of Transfer Talk clips.
The execution was produced in-house at Sky Sports / Sky Media with creative collaboration across both WhatsApp and their agency Mindshare.
Campaign results
The campaign achieved great reach across TV and digital platforms integrating WhatsApp wherever Sky Sports were telling the transfer story. Millions of viewers on Sky Sports News channel, amplified further through Sky’s and Harry Pinero’s social following. Most importantly for the brand, research showed agreement that ‘WhatsApp allows you to message privately’ emerged as the biggest prompted message take out and increased by +19%, awareness of WhatsApp’s ‘View Once’ feature increased by 29% and trust of the brand strengthened by +16% (viewers vs non-viewers).