The objective of the campaign was to create a subversive, alternative media brand to intrigue and provoke interaction from young Australian audiences, offering them an opportunity to express their creativity via Twitter and Instagram.

Throughout the campaign, the public was instructed to #Get808 via sky writing over Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach and Federation Square in Melbourne, as well as guerrilla street promotion and the official website get808.com. A 15 second teaser 808 promo was also broadcast during the ARIA Awards, as models body painted with 808 strutted with the stars, live down the ARIA red carpet. The stunt gained the attention of a number of media outlets including news site, news.com.au.

“The challenge was to come up with alternative ways to pique curiosity, achieve large scale reach and create fun and innovative ways to get Australians creatively involved”, said Michelle Lucia, marketing manager of MTV Australia and New Zealand.

“Working with The Royals on guerrilla tactics like sky writing, street teams and the 808 body painted models on the ARIA red carpet hit the nail on the head and achieved some awesome social results for what we feel is one of our most creative campaigns.”

Within a short period of time the Twitter and Instagram #Get808 accounts were inundated with curious individuals sharing or creating 808 imagery, demanding to be involved and ultimately widening the engagement further.

The public were encouraged to post a picture via Twitter or Instagram of any 808 activity that they spotted or created themselves, hashtag #Get808 and await contact until they received an invitation to the mysterious 808 event. Quotes from participants included:

Entering via a back laneway entrance, as to not reveal the MTV HQ location, hundreds of curious guests comprising of social media entrants, press, influencers and MTV Music business partners attended the 808 event last night. The event included live performances by ARIA Award winning DJ Peking Duk, Adelaide born rapper Allday, media personality and DJ Didier Cohen and Aussie DJ and producer Helena.

At precisely 8.08pm, MTV VJ’s Kate & Krit unveiled the 808 campaign with the slogan ‘808 is MTV Music’ to celebrate MTVs flagship music channel now being available to all Foxtel homes.

Across the two weeks of the campaign, MTV built a subversive, alternative media community from scratch, driving more than 10,000 visitors to get808.com and building a community of over 1,700 on Instagram and Twitter. Engaged users generated more than 700 #Get808 sightings across the two platforms.

“With the 808 messaging we had our audience buzzing with anticipation for news, content or sightings. It was a celebration of the fact that MTV Music lives at the centre of popular culture: helping create it, spread it and mess with its form, regardless of medium,” said Dave King, strategy director, The Royals.

Foxtel unveiled new pricing and packaging options in November and MTV Music (channel 808) and MTV Dance (channel 810) were among the 40 channels included in the new ‘Entertainment Pack’ available in all subscriber homes. The shift increased distribution of MTV’s two Australian-produced and programmed music channels by more than one million homes.

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